Reuters World leaders may be gathering on Saturday to pay their respects to a fellow statesman whose church has more members than their states have citizens. But they may also use the Pope’s funeral as a rare and unexpected opportunity to conduct a little impromptu diplomacy. For it will be one of the largest gatherings...
The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered its condolences for Pope Francis, four days after his death. An earlier offer of condolences posted on social media by the official state account of Israel had previously been deleted, causing considerable controversy within the country. Israel is also sending a relatively low-level delegation...
Santiago Vanegas BBC News Mundo José Ignacio Bergoglio José Ignacio with his uncle, Jorge Mario To his family, Pope Francis was simply “Jorge Mario” – even during the 12 years that he was pontiff. “When Jorge decided to accept the papacy, he understood his life as he knew it would change forever, and so did...
AP The seat at the Vatican had been vacant for two days when a group of grey-clad nuns stood on St Peter’s Square and started to sing. Softly at first then louder, as if to encourage those who joined in timidly, the nuns broke into Ave Maria. Every so often they shuffled a few inches...
Laura Gozzi BBC News, in Rome EPA Every time Pope Francis came back to Rome after a trip abroad, he made sure to pay a visit to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It was a fitting choice: Francis was particularly devoted to the Virgin Mary, and Santa Maria Maggiore was the first church to...
Sarah Rainsford and Laura Gozzi Reuters The pontiff’s body, laid out in an open coffin, was moved to the church in a formal procession The body of Pope Francis has been moved from his Vatican residence to St Peter’s Basilica to allow the faithful to pay their respects before his funeral on Saturday. The Pope’s...
Pope Francis’s funeral will take place on Saturday at 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) in front of St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican says. The date was decided after cardinals met in Vatican City on Tuesday morning to discuss the funeral’s timing. Ahead of the funeral, Pope Francis’s body will lie in an open casket in...