Pope Francis funeral live updates: Trump and Zelensky meet as thousands attend Vatican service – UK Times

Donald Trump has left Rome, shortly after Pope Francis’ funeral mass concluded.

The US President was pictured boarding Air Force One at Fiumicino Airport with his wife, Melania Trump.

The burial of the Pope, famed for his humble approach towards the grand office, will break with tradition in a number of ways.

Francis’s final resting place will be the basilica of St Mary Major, one of the four major basilicas of Christendom in Rome, situated on the Esquiline Hill.

In Ancient Rome, the Esquiline was used for the burial of slaves, the poor and those condemned to death.

Nowadays, it is home to the Stazione Termini, Rome’s main railway station.

St. Mary Major, around 4km from the Vatican, was dear to Francis because of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God. He prayed there before setting off on and returning from each overseas trip.

Argentina-born Francis prayed in the basilica early on March 14, 2013, the day after he became the first Latin American pope.

He returned at key moments in his papacy, praying for an end to the coronavirus pandemic in a locked-down Rome in 2020 and after his abdominal surgeries in 2021 and 2023.

After arriving at St Mary Major’s basilica, Pope Francis will now be buried in private.

Francis left instructions asking to be buried in a simple underground tomb in the church – which lies a neighbourhood between the Colosseum and Termini train station.

This makes Francis the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried at St Peter’s Basilica.

The cardinal leading the pope’s funeral mass appeared to criticise US president Donald Trump in his homily.

“‘Build bridges, not walls’ was an exhortation [Francis] repeated many times,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, as a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people watched in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City and millions more worldwide listened.

Mr Trump was seen seated looking solemn in the front row for the service for a pontiff, who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues, mostly the pope’s compassion for migrants, whom the US president has repeatedly tried to deport.

Jane Dalton’s full report can be read here:

The Pope’s coffin has arrived at St Mary Major’s basilica.

He will be buried in private in a simple underground tomb in the church.

A “group of poor and needy people” will be present on the steps leading to Saint Mary Major to pay their last respects to Francis before he is entombed, the Holy See said on Thursday.

Pope Francis’ coffin is now passing the Colosseum.

The Pontiff’s body is travelling through the streets of Rome to St Mary Major’s basilica.

Thousands have lined the streets to cheer for the late Pope’s simple wooden coffin as he passed by.

Pope Francis’ coffin is now being taken to his final resting place in St Mary Major Basilica.

The Pontiff’s body is being taken through the streets of Rome, about 4km from St Peter’s Basilica where his funeral mass has just taken place.

The route crosses the river Tiber and passes Piazza Venezia followed by the Colosseum.

The procession will be at walking pace to allow people to bid farewell to the pope on his final journey and is expected to take around 30 minutes, depending on crowds.

Thousands have lined the streets of Rome to say a final farewell to Pope Francis.

Applause from crowds could be heard as Francis’ coffin passed in his Popemobile to the St Mary Major Basilica in Rome.

He will pass famous landmarks including the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia on the route to his final resting place.

The 4km journey is expected to take around half an hour.

The route has been barricaded for security reasons, and marks the final time the Pope will be “among the people”, as he requested.