Among the Meek and the Mighty, Catholics Bury Their ‘People's Pope'
Pope Francis's coffin is carried during his funeral at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Saturday.
VATICAN CITY – The Roman Catholic Church bid farewell to the first New World pope Saturday in a funeral attended by monarchs, presidents and cardinals but also a different group of guests – an honor guard of migrants, prisoners, the homeless and transgender faithful who offered white roses to the coffin of a leader who had placed the marginalized at the heart of his 'people's papacy.'
Under crystal-clear skies in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica, the nearly two-hour requiem Mass was a solemn spectacle of an ancient faith, an elaborate, multilingual ceremony modestly slimmed down at the behest of Pope Francis, who died the morning after Easter at 88. The most notable difference: a single wooden coffin lined with zinc as opposed to the three-tiered caskets of cypress, lead and oak used for previous popes.
The changes, official said, were meant to honor the wishes of the first Jesuit pope, who had taken a vow of poverty and aimed to make the proceedings seem more like the funeral of a pastor than a 'sovereign' who had ruled the lofty Holy See. Before the closing of his coffin Friday night, Francis's well-worn black shoes peeked out from under the elegant ceremonial robes of a man who eschewed the finery of his office, including the red slippers of popes.
As dawn broke Saturday over Vatican City, thousands of Catholic faithful poured into St. Peter's Square. Some wrapped themselves in national flags – Brazil, Lebanon, Australia – while others carried banners honoring Francis. Heather Salwach, a 34-year-old health-care professional from Philadelphia, heard about the pope's death just before boarding her flight to Rome. 'For me, the flight became a vigil,' she said. She arrived at 6:30 a.m. with her mother to say goodbye to a man she called 'the people's pope.'
'He was our holy father, and as Catholics we feel as if we lost our father. His pastoral approach sometimes got him in trouble, but for me it was beautiful. He was a man of mercy,' she said.
The sprawling crowds spilled over the square through multiple blocks on the streets of Rome and marked the largest funeral-as-global-event since the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and the most significant in Vatican City since the emotional farewell to Pope John Paul II in 2005. The throngs radiated far beyond St. Peter's Square, with crowds thick down Via della Conciliazione, the Mussolini-era thoroughfare connecting Vatican City with Rome. They sat on ledges of Vatican office buildings, stood with obstructed views behind newsstands and on platforms normally used for restaurant service.
Papal influence has waned over decades, but the still significant power of the church of 1.4 billion Catholics could be seen in the dignitaries the funeral rites drew, including President Donald Trump, Britain's Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, many of whom sat stoically as the sounds of Latin echoed through the square built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Trump sat in the front row of honored guests that included Macron and Zelensky. Unlike most dignitaries who wore black, Trump donned a navy suit with dark blue tie.
In addition to the 164 national delegations, other faiths sent high-level representatives to Francis's funeral. The list includes Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Jains, as well as leaders of the Eastern Orthodox church, the Anglican Communion, Methodists, the World Evangelical Alliance and others.
The Vatican said Saturday that authorities estimated the crowd size at the funeral to be around 250,000 people – far larger than the 50,000 people who attended Pope Benedict XVI's funeral in 2023, and nearing the 300,000 who attended John Paul II's in 2005. Another 150,000 onlookers viewed the coffin during its procession through Rome to Francis's burial site, the Vatican said.
'The final image we have of him, which will remain etched in our memory, is that of last Sunday, Easter Sunday, when Pope Francis, despite his serious health problems, wanted to give us his blessing from the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica,' said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, who presided over the service and led an unusual funeral Mass in which a multitude of clerics were invited to co-celebrate.
'Despite his frailty and suffering towards the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life. He followed in the footsteps of his Lord,' he added.
Francis, at his request, became the first pope in more than a hundred years to be buried outside the high walls of Vatican City. His funeral procession moved through the streets on the 3.4-mile route to St. Mary Major, one of the four papal basilicas in and around the Italian capital that serves as the epicenter of world's largest Christian faith. The circuitous procession traversed the Tiber River and symbols of the city's ancient power, the Roman Forum and Colosseum, as clusters of onlookers snapped images with their phones.
The funeral day was a juxtaposition of the powerful and the weak. Leaving a square possessed of global leaders and monarchs, the white popemobile carrying Francis's coffin arrived at the entrance of St. Mary Major to be greeted by white-rose-bearing mourners. The final honor guard included Venezuelan, Kurdish, Egyptian and other migrants, as well as Muslims, transgender people, the homeless and others selected by the Vicariate of Rome as a symbol of the late pope's mission of inclusion and outreach. The guests were not brought into the church with the coffin, or for the burial.
The presence of marginalized people, though, symbolized 'Pope Francis's fight on their behalf,' said Tamara Castro, 48, a transgender woman from Argentina currently living in Rome who has been aided financially by Vatican charities. She was among those who held roses for Francis's arrival. 'He was a person who was very generous with us; he opened the door for us, he was always there.'
The Vatican's live stream cut out soon after the casket, set to be interned in a niche previously used for storage, was taken inside for a private burial, the costs of which Francis personally arranged to be covered by an undisclosed benefactor to avoid expenses for the church he served.
As is customary in Vatican City for papal funerals, the presidents of Italy, which surrounds Vatican City, and Argentina, Francis's native land, sat in front-row seats to the north of the coffin during the funeral Mass. Reigning sovereigns filled other privileged seats.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived at the Vatican about 9:30 a.m. They entered St. Peter's Basilica and stood side-by-side at the foot of Francis's casket, briefly paying their respects, before joining the other heads of state and government leaders gathered in the square.
Trump has not been openly critical of Francis, but his arrival in Rome came as some in his MAGA camp have appeared to revel in the passing of a pro-migrant pope who sought to burst open the door of the church he led to everyone, including LGBTQ+, divorced and remarried Catholics.
Francis and Vatican officials had criticized the Trump administration's migrant crackdown and aid cuts. During the funeral's homily, Battista Re highlighted the pope's journey to Lampedusa – an Italian island that has become a symbol of Europe's migration crisis and repeated Francis's call to 'build bridges, not walls,' a statement that echoed a criticism the pope had issued against Trump in 2016. One senior Vatican official and funeral attendee – Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life – said 'Francis was stronger' than politics.
'I myself am totally against those who will go: 'They should stay home, because they hindered him!' No. Pope Francis [would not be] against this.' He added, 'I don't know why Trump is coming, but certainly Pope Francis's testimony has touched him.'
Francis was known for defending Israel before the war in the Gaza Strip, but the country's leaders were stung by his criticism of Israel's military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. Francis described Israel's actions as, responding to 'terror with terror.' Israel opted to skip sending a high-level delegation, dispatching its Vatican ambassador instead.
Italy called thousands of medics and security officials into Rome for the funeral. Arriving pilgrims passed makeshift medical tents, police officers, hundreds of civil protection officials, and idled ambulances bearing district names from across the country. One officer showed off a backpack with a bazooka-like attachment for disabling drones. People inside the piazza said security was appropriately tight, but that organizers managed to keep people moving forward.
'This is not their first pope death,' said the Rev. Paul Alger, a theology student from Augusta, Georgia.
To an astonishing degree, people of many nations gathered in the square seemed to share a united view of Francis, of a leader who sought to minister to the poor, of his humility, of his embrace of all. 'He was a king, but he didn't live like a king,' said Sister Faith Abugu, a nun from Enugu state in Nigeria. 'He didn't carry himself like a big person. He was available for all.'
'I am not sad at all,' she said. 'This is a celebration. He lived a good life.'
The private burial rites Saturday were presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, and attended by cardinals, other clerics and Francis's relatives, and involved a blessing of the niche with holy water and ritual sealing of the coffin. A reproduction of the pectoral crucifix favored by Francis was affixed to the center of the niche, according to a video of the burial provided by Vatican.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a longtime conservative critic of Francis who served as the Vatican's chief doctrinal officer under Benedict, said it was perhaps too much to expect the kind of crowds or religious devotion evident during John Paul II's funeral.
'Now is another time … everybody is against everybody, when only the language of power and brutality [is spoken], and not of friendship, cooperation and respect,' he said.
Müller said it would be for 'God' and the 'historians of the church' to judge Francis's papacy, one he frequently criticized. But, he conceded, 'a lot of people, observers, said that the last moral authority worldwide has remained the papacy, Pope Francis.'
Lithuanian Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, the co-adjutor archpriest of St. Mary Major, said Francis had long been devoted to the 'Salus Populi Romani,' the church's treasured icon of the Virgin Mary with child. Francis often prayed at the icon, and Makrickas had suggested in 2022 that Francis consider burial at the church. Francis initially declined, believing it customary to be buried in the more lofty St. Peter's. But he changed his mind, Makrickas said, after claiming to receive guidance from the Virgin Mary.
The pope chose a simple, single Latin word to mark his tomb – Franciscus, Makrickas said. 'He meant for his tomb to respect and speak about his life – that is, of simplicity and essential things.'
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The Mainichi
09-08-2025
- The Mainichi
Nagasaki marks 80th A-bomb anniv. as survivors put hopes of nuke ban in hands of youth
NAGASAKI, Japan (AP) -- The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday marked 80 years since the U.S. atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear bomb. The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia. About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial event at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke, among other guests. At 11:02 a.m., the exact time when the plutonium bomb exploded above Nagasaki, participants observed a moment of silence as a bell rang. Nagasaki pledges to be the last atomic bombing site Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Suzuki, whose parents are survivors of the attack. He said the city's memories of the bombing are "a common heritage and should be passed down for generations" in and outside Japan. "The existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth," Suzuki said. "In order to make Nagasaki the last atomic bombing site now and forever, we will go hand-in-hand with global citizens and devote our utmost efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of everlasting world peace." Praying for nuclear abolition and no war Survivors and their families gathered Saturday in rainy weather at Peace Park and nearby Hypocenter Park, located below the bomb's exact detonation spot, hours before the official ceremony. "I simply seek a world without war," said Koichi Kawano, an 85-year-old survivor who laid flowers at the Hypocenter monument decorated with colorful paper cranes and other offerings. Some others prayed at churches in Nagasaki, home to Catholic converts who went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution in Japan's feudal era. The twin bells at Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed in the bombing, also rang together again after one of the bells that had gone missing following the attack was restored by volunteers. Despite their pain from wounds, discrimination and illnesses from radiation, survivors have publicly committed to a shared goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. But they worry about the world moving in the opposite direction. Survivors put their hopes in younger hands Aging survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack is not distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their future. "There are only two things I long for: the abolition of nuclear weapons and prohibition of war," survivor Fumi Takeshita said. "I only see a world where nuclear weapons are never used and everyone can live in peace." In hopes of passing on the lessons of history, Takeshita visits schools to share her experience with children. "When you grow up and remember what you learned today, please think what each of you can do to prevent war," Takeshita, 83, told students during a school visit earlier this week. Teruko Yokoyama, an 83-year-old member of a Nagasaki organization supporting survivors, said she feels the absence of those she has worked, which fuels her strong desire to document the lives of remaining survivors. The number of survivors has fallen to 99,130, about a quarter of the original number, with their average age exceeding 86. Survivors worry about fading memories, as the youngest of the survivors were too young to recall the attack clearly. "We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and thier lifetime story," said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering illnesses linked to radiation. Her organization has started to digitalize the narratives of survivors for viewing on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation. "There are younger people who are beginning to take action," Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. "So I think we don't have to get depressed yet." Nagasaki hosted a "peace forum" on Friday where survivors shared their stories with more than 300 young people from around the country. Seiichiro Mise, a 90-year-old survivor, said he is handing seeds of "flowers of peace" to the younger generation in hopes of seeing them bloom. Japan's security dilemma Survivors are frustrated by a growing nuclear threat and support among international leaders for developing or possessing nuclear weapons for deterrence. They criticize the Japanese government's refusal to sign or even participate in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons because Japan, as an American ally, needs U.S. nuclear possession as deterrence. In Ishiba's speech, the prime mininister reiterated Japan's pursuit of a nuclear-free world and pledged to promote dialogue and cooperation between countries with nuclear weapons and non-nuclear states at the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons review conference scheduled for April and May 2026 in New York City. Ishiba, however, did not mention the nuclear weapons ban treaty. Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony Saturday. China notably notified the city it would not be present without providing a reason. The ceremony last year stirred controversy due to the absence of the U.S. ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city's refusal to invite Israel.
Asahi Shimbun
09-08-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
From acceptance to anger: Path trod by Nagasaki bomb survivors
Pope John Paul II kisses a resident of Megumi no Oka Nagasaki Genbaku Home during a visit to Nagasaki in February 1981. (Provided by Megumi no Oka Nagasaki Genbaku Home) NAGASAKI--Many of the victims of this city's atomic bombing initially found solace in the thought their deaths would be a beautiful sacrifice. That way of thinking would later change. The catalyst was a visit by Pope John Paul II. Nagasaki on Aug. 9 marked the 80th anniversary of its destruction from atomic bombing. Early accounts of people who lost loved ones in the attack were collated by Nagasaki Junshin Educational Corp., which operates schools from kindergarten to university, and published in 1961. One father described his daughter as 'a truly happy child.' He finally found his daughter, a second-year student at the senior high school, five days after the attack. She had burns over much of her body. He took her to a hospital, but her condition did not improve. Seemingly realizing she was slipping away, the daughter began to sing a hymn. But as her voice weakened, she said, 'I can't sing anymore.' 'I can't see.' She mouthed 'Goodbye' as a prayer died on her lips. Friends and others told the father how lucky he was to have shared such precious last moments with his daughter. One person surmised the father and daughter's deep Catholic faith was the glue that bound them so closely at such an emotionally wrought time. Bereaved family members head to a memorial ceremony held in September 1945 for the victims of the Nagasaki atomic bombing. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) Records show that 214 students at Nagasaki Junshin Senior Girls' High School perished in the bombing. They were working as volunteers at a weapons factory when the bomb detonated over the port city. Chie Shijo, a native of Hiroshima city who relocated to Nagasaki in 2006, was among many who were deeply moved by the publication. She had worked as a curator at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which gave her access to all sorts of documents left behind by schools in the western city. But she had never come across anything like the Junshin volume. In her view, describing victims of the atomic bombing in a beautiful and pure way served only to push the barbarity and wretchedness of atomic weapons into the background. But she was curious as to how such a narrative arose in the first place. Takashi Nagai, a Catholic physician who died in 1951 at the age of 43, is said to have played a pivotal role in providing spiritual comfort to Catholics living in the Urakami district of Nagasaki after the bombing. His wife was among the tens of thousands killed in the attack, and he himself suffered serious injuries. He devoted his efforts to helping other victims. Takashi Nagai in his shelter called Nyokodo (Provided by the Takashi Nagai Memorial Museum) Nagai wrote 17 books from his hospital bed even while suffering from the effects of radiation exposure. Many of his works described the sense of guilt felt by survivors. The Urakami district, home to a cathedral of the same name, was ground zero in the bombing, which Nagai called 'divine providence.' He likened the victims to live animals sacrificed in religious ceremonies, known as burnt offerings, and said they were a sacrifice to God. Junshin operated a Catholic school in Urakami. Other accounts published in the volume contained references to burnt offerings. Years later, Nagai came under heavy criticism for seemingly having taken little issue with the atomic bombing. But since his works were written during the U.S. Occupation, Nagai likely found it difficult to say anything that the authorities did not approve of. The 1951 peace declaration issued by the Nagasaki city government on the anniversary of the bombing said the atomic attack hastened the end of war. Shijo felt that the survivors in Urakami must have believed what Nagai said as they tried to make sense of the magnitude of the destruction and anguished over questions about faith, justice and evil. 'The narrative of accepting the good people who died as being a sacrifice to God helped with the reconstruction of Nagasaki,' Shijo said. When Junshin rebuilt its school, it set aside a grave for the remains of the students who died in the bombing. Because the students were symbols of filial piety, Junshin also decided to construct a retirement home for those who lost family members and were left by themselves. POPE'S HEALING WORDS Pope John Paul II visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1981. In a speech in Hiroshima, the pontiff did not mince words, saying, 'War is the work of man.' He added, 'to remember the past is to commit oneself to the future.' The Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the religious organization that established Junshin, also constructed Megumi no Oka Nagasaki Genbaku Home, a facility to provide care to senior citizens who survived the bombing. Visiting the facility, the pope told the residents, 'The very manner in which all of you continue to live is the most convincing appeal for opposing war and promoting peace.' From the following year, staff at the facility recorded and published the testimony of residents. The reminiscences were brutal in their hatred of war and atomic weapons. One man who lost his wife and whose daughter was sickened by radiation exposure wrote, 'I hate war.' Another wrote if those who died cannot be brought back to life, atomic bombs should never again be used. Another individual said that people must not give up just because war was unavoidable. Akira Shikayama, 59, works at the retirement home next to the main building. He was in junior high school when the pope visited the facility. Since working there, he has listened to and written down the accounts of about 300 hibakusha. While he has also read the Junshin volume given to him by a former superior, he realizes the facility where he now works has a special role to play. This year, a 91-year-old resident told him what she had endured and admitted she had not even told her family about her experiences. In 1949, the woman and her mother had moved to an outlying island, but the mother died from radiation exposure. Everyone in the community knew the cause of death and neighbors began shunning the family, the woman said. She had to walk a great distance to obtain milk for her younger brother. For decades, the woman never once talked about the discrimination she had faced. But in 2024 when Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the woman had a change of heart after she folded paper cranes to be sent to Oslo. She asked Shikayama for more time so she could also give her testimony. This summer, a memorial hall at the facility named after John Paul II displayed the results of many years of passing down the experiences of the hibakusha. Their accounts and art works are available to staff, residents, their families and visitors. 'The mission of this retirement home is to spread the testimony of residents to the world. That will not change in the future,' Shikayama said. Junshin students sing at the Aug. 9, 1961, memorial ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Yomiuri Shimbun
08-08-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Bells of Nagasaki's Urakami Cathedral to Sound Together for 1st Time Since Bomb Dropped in 1945
NAGASAKI — A nonprofit organization, which promotes the study of Nagasaki culture, will hold an event Saturday to listen to the sound of bells in the city's Urakami Cathedral, including a new bell donated to the cathedral to replace one that was damaged in the 1945 atomic bombing of the city. On Aug. 9, 1945, the cathedral and two towers collapsed in the bombing, but the south tower's bell was found nearly intact in the rubble and was placed in the rebuilt cathedral. But the north tower's bell was severely damaged by the bomb. The new bell was donated to the cathedral earlier this year in a project led by Prof. James Nolan Jr. at Williams College in the United States. Nolan Jr., 62, is the grandson of James Nolan, who participated in the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb. Agenda NOVA Nagasaki will hold the event at Tenshu Park in Heiwamachi with Nolan Jr. and Kojiro Moriuchi, 72, a parishioner and a child of a hibakusha atomic-bomb survivor, in attendance. The gathering will be livestreamed on the NPO's website to share the sound of peace with people around the world. When Nolan Jr. visited Nagasaki about two years ago, Moriuchi proposed the creation of a new bell to him. Nolan Jr. agreed and began raising funds by collecting donations from Catholics and others in the United States. The new bell was shipped from the United States, and on July 17 it was hung in the north tower with a crane. The event will begin at 10:45 a.m. Saturday. After greetings from Nolan Jr. and others, attendees will offer silent prayers at 11:02 a.m., the exact time the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. Then they will listen to the sound of the bells being rung together for the first time since World War II.
