- Francis remodeled the church, faced a traditionalist setback.
- Funeral breaks the tradition, burial outside the Vatican.
- The presidents of the United States, France, Argentina, among the VIP.
Vatican City: Royalty, presidents, prime ministers and a legion of faithful will present their last respect for Pope Francis on Saturday at a funeral mass in the Plaza de San Pedro to honor his sometimes turbulent papacy.
Among those attending more than 150 countries will be the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who faced Francis on numerous occasions about his clearly contrasting positions in immigration.
The Argentine Pope died on Monday, at 88, after a stroke, marking the beginning of a meticulously planned transition period for the Roman Catholic Church of 1.4 billion, marked by the old ritual, pomp and duel.
In the last three days, around 250,000 people appeared beyond their body, which had appeared in a coffin before the altar of the Cavernosa Basilica of San Pedro of the 16th century.
Its coffin will take through the main doors on Saturday for the funeral outdoors, which begins at 10 am (0800 GMT), with massive rows of foreign dignitaries to the side of the stone colonnade, in front of hundreds of cardinals hated by red in opposite banks of seats.
Trump will be the presidents of Argentina, France, Gabón, Germany, Italy, Philippines, Poland and Ukraine, together with the prime ministers of Great Britain and New Zealand, and many European reales.
The Vatican says that some 250,000 mourners will fill the vast cobbled esplanade and the main access route to the basilica to follow the ceremony, which will be chaired by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a 91 -year -old Italian prelate.
The first non -European Pope for almost 13 centuries, Francis fought to remodel the Roman Catholic Church during his 12 -year reign, next to the poor and marginalized, while challenging rich nations to help migrants and climate change.
“Francis left everyone a wonderful testimony of humanity, a holy life and universal paternity,” said a formal summary of his papacy, written in Latin, and placed next to his body.
The traditionalists retreated their efforts to make the church more transparent, while their supplications of conflict, divisions and unbridled capitalism often fell into deaf ears.
Break the tradition
The Pope rejected much of the pomp and privilege generally associated with the papacy during his reign, and will carry that desire of greater simplicity at his funeral, having rewritten the elaborate funeral rites that are previously used.
While the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 lasted three hours, Saturday will take 90 minutes.
Francis also chose to give up a centenary practice of burying potatoes in three intertwined coffins made of cypress, lead and oak. On the other hand, it has been placed in a single wood -lined wood coffin, which was sealed closed during the night.
In an additional break with tradition, he will be the first Pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century, preferring the Basilica of Rome by St. Mary Major, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) of San Pedro, as his final resting place.
His grave only has “Francisco”, his name in Latin, registered at the top. A simple and iron -plated crossing that used to use around its neck hangs on the marble slab.
His funeral caravan will take him through the city for the last time, allowing the Romans to say his farewell.
Italy has closed the airspace over the city and called additional forces, with anti -aircraft missiles and patrol boats that protect the event in one of the largest security operations that the country has seen since the funeral of John Paul II.
As soon as Francis is buried, attention will change to whom it could happen.
It is unlikely that the secret conclave to choose a successor begins before May 6, and may not start for several days after that, giving time to the cardinals to hold regular meetings in advance to join and evaluate the state of the Church, harassed by financial problems and ideological divisions.
