Saying goodbye with gratitude: Belfast peace-builder Rome bound for Pope's funeral
Ed Peterson is a lay-person who has been working in peace ministry at Clonard Monastery in west Belfast for two decades, and he has found the papacy of Pope Francis inspirational.
'I'm just so grateful that I'll have this opportunity to go to Rome to say that final goodbye with much gratitude to Pope Francis for his life and the impact he has had on me and my family and my work here in Clonard,' said Ed.
Huge crowds are expected at the outdoor mass at 10am local time on Saturday, which will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is the dean of the College of Cardinals.
Francis was a guiding light to Ed because a focus of his papacy was around work with other denominations, which very much aligns with Ed's job with the Redemptorist order. They are a Catholic order founded by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori who wanted to help the 'most abandoned souls.'
'Both his desire for the unity of Christians and that work across all denominations of the church spoke to us very much here in Clonard, as well as his interfaith work and his friendships that he had, whether it be members of the Jewish community, the Muslim community.
'Probably for me his most inspirational writing was something called Fratelli Tutti, which is the Italian title of an encyclical that was basically saying that we are all sisters and brothers, and that began with a relationship that he had with the Muslim sultan and the friendship that they built and just about our common humanity.
'And it wasn't something that was written just for Catholics or even just for Christians.
'Pope Francis always seemed to have a wider vision that everybody was part of this, human family together and albeit he did that within his own Catholic Jesuit context, but he wanted everyone to feel part of this family together that he felt part of, whether they were from a particular religious viewpoint or faith viewpoint or or those maybe who are even humanists, atheists all I think would have felt a place at the table with Pope Francis.'
Having met his wife in Rome, the Eternal City is a special place for the Petersons.
They would have loved to have made the pilgrimage back together, but he said she has taken one for the team and is staying at home in Belfast so that he can go.
'I immediately was hopeful that maybe I could make it over, and I'm just so grateful that everything has worked out and that I will get to be there."
By Thursday lunchtime, more than 60,000 people had stood in line for hours in St Peter's Square to make their way into the basilica to catch a glimpse of Francis's body, which is laid out in a simple, open coffin. Ed hopes to be able to file past, but knows it may not be possible due to the huge crowds.
'I know that I will be there on Saturday morning for his funeral mass, and just the honour to be there to give thanks to God for his life and how much that has meant to so many of us will be a great blessing for me.'
Ed did get to meet Pope Francis after a member of the Jewish Community in Belfast told him she was going to a private audience at a conference, the International Council of Christians and Jews. He was able to go along and join the 150 strong delegation, and did get a handshake and a photo.
'I was able to bring greetings from the Redemptorist community here and just to thank him personally for all that he has meant to me,' he said.
Ed will now head to Rome to share his gratitude once again, this time with millions of others sharing the same sentiment.
In doing do he will witness a papal funeral like none before, as Francis said no to a lot of the traditional pomp and ceremony. He left instructions in which he asked to be buried in a simple underground tomb in Rome's papal basilica of Saint Mary Major.
In his will, he wrote: 'I have always entrusted my life and priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy.
'Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest, awaiting the day of resurrection, in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
'I wish that my final earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian shrine, where I go to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey…
'I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side nave between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica, as indicated in the enclosed plan.
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