Vatican City (AP) – Of some of the most powerful leaders in the world to the margins of the company to which Pope Francis has always been owned, hundreds of thousands of people were expected in the Vatican on Saturday for funeral rites for the deceased pontiff.
President Donald Trump and sixty other heads of state and reign sovereigns have announced their intention to go to Rome around the world. The Vatican said that “a group of the poor and the needy” would be on the steps of the Saint-Marie-Major basilica to pay tribute to the first Jesuit pope and the first Latin American pope before his burial in the church.
The Holy See press office added that the poor had a special place in Francis’ heart. He had chosen for its papacy the name of the medieval Italian saint who gave up the richness of his family when he joined the church.
Already, the long lines of the faithful paid tribute to Francis, who died Monday at 88 years old, during the three days when his body was lying in a simple wooden coffin inside the Saint-Pierre basilica.
From the start of its papacy in 2013, Francis conquered many things in the world, Catholic or not, with his plea for migrants and the environment. His heritage was more mixed on the subjects of the sexual abuse of the clergy and the LGBTQ +awareness, which made waves to increase inclusion, but some criticized so as not to go far enough.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
