A funeral mass was concluded with the attendance of 400,000 mourners to mourn Pope Francis.
The funeral mass for Pope Francis was held on the 26th at 10 a.m. (local time) in St. Peter's Lee & Ko.
Pope Francis passed away at 7:35 a.m. on the 21st due to a stroke and heart failure. He was born in Argentina in 1936 and was elected as a non-European pope for the first time in 1282 years. He is the first pope from the Americas.
He was elected pope in 2013 and took the papal name after the Italian saint Francis, who was known as 'the saint of the poor.' He has been regarded as the most progressive pope in history and allowed Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.
The mass, held five days after the death of Pope Francis, began with the procession of the coffin from St. Peter's Basilica to the outdoor altar in the Lee & Ko. The mass lasted about two hours, including an entrance song, prayers, biblical readings, the Eucharistic ceremony, and farewell rites. After the funeral mass, the coffin was carried to the burial site at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
On this day, the funeral mass attracted about 250,000 crowd members, including ordinary citizens who loved the pope, while 150,000 participated in the funeral procession, bringing the total number of mourners to 400,000. U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (EU), as well as delegations from over 130 countries worldwide, also bid farewell to him. From Korea, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon and Bishop Oh Hyun-joo, the Korean ambassador to the Vatican, along with An Jae-hong, the president of the Catholic Lay Apostolate Council, attended.
The Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who officiated the mass, noted, 'He has tirelessly pleaded for peace in the face of brutal wars, inhuman horrors, countless deaths, and destruction in recent years,' and expressed a wish for a solution through rational and sincere negotiations.
He added, 'He sought to draw closer to everyone and paid special attention to the marginalized.' He was referred to as 'the pope of the people who looked out for all.'
Pope Francis was laid to rest in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore near the Rome Termini train station, a place he frequently visited. This is the first time since Pope Leo XIII in 1903 that a pope has been buried outside the underground tomb of St. Peter's Basilica.
He was interred in a wall space of the basilica that housed candle holders. The location of the coffin was engraved with the Latin name 'Franciscus.'
Following the conclusion of his funeral mass, a nine-day mourning period will continue until the 4th of next month, during which memorial prayer meetings will be held daily in St. Peter's Lee & Ko.
The ceremony to elect the next pope, known as 'conclave,' is expected to begin from the 5th to the 10th of next month. In this ceremony, 135 cardinals from around the world will gather to vote for a pope, which will continue until a candidate receives more than two-thirds of the votes. In the Sistine Chapel, where the conclave takes place, black smoke will be emitted if a pope is not elected and white smoke if one is elected. Cardinals attending the conclave will be cut off from all external contact until a pope is elected.