Poor, migrants to bid last farewell at Francis’ funeral on Saturday – Vatican

The Vatican has disclosed that a group of migrants and poor people will surround Pope Francis’ wooden and zinc coffin to pay their last respect to the deceased Pontiff after it was sealed on Friday evening.

According to the Press Office, the funeral Mass will begin at 10:00 am on Saturday, April 26, in St. Peter’s Square, and will be presided over by Cardinal Re and will conclude with the transfer of the coffin to Saint Mary Major, where the burial will take place.

The Vatican also disclosed that about 250 cardinals, bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters will attend the funeral Mass.

After the solemn funeral Mass at St. Peter’s, Pope Francis’ remains will be transferred in procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major where a group of poor and marginalized people will pay their last respects before his burial in the church, as he expressed in his last wishes.

Holding a white rose, they will be the last to bid farewell to the late Pope after the funeral Mass, before his burial between the Pauline Chapel (the chapel of Salus Populi Romani, a Marian icon venerated by Romans and by Francis) and the Sforza Chapel of the Liberian Basilica, in accordance with the Pope’s wishes.

Read also: Pictures: Crowd pay respect as Pope Francis’s open coffin is transferred to Saint Peter’s Basilica

“The poor hold a privileged place in God’s heart, also in the heart and teachings of the Holy Father, who chose the name Francis so as never to forget them,” a communiqué from the Holy See stated on Friday.

“I find this a very moving choice, because Pope Francis is being received by the Mother he loved so much (Salus Populi Romani) and by his favourite children, who will surround him on this final journey. I think it’s something truly beautiful,” Benoni Ambarus, secretary of the Commission for Migrations of the Italian Episcopal Conference, stated.

According to the Press Office, Ambarus, a delegate for charitable initiatives, was at Francis’ side during the opening of the Holy Door at Rebibbia prison, in Rome on December 26, 2024 – one of the most emblematic moments of his pontificate.

The Vatican disclosed that the idea for the final encounter came from an exchange between the Romanian-born bishop and Bishop Diego Ravelli, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, to “strengthen the presence of the poor at the funeral or in some other meaningful way.”

The decision was made to include “a representation of various categories of vulnerable people — the poor, the homeless, migrants, prisoners or former prisoners, or poor families,” as if all his favourite people were accompanying him in his final journey.

Ambarus noted that almost all of the migrants or homeless people in the group have had the chance to meet Pope Francis at least once during his lifetime. Moved by Francis’ decision to turn a prison into a kind of cathedral, he echoed the ‘emptiness’ now felt by the prisoners who participated in the opening of the Holy Door and the Jubilee.

“Those living in prison feel orphaned — that’s what they write to me, what they tell me. They feel like they’ve lost a father but are still holding on to the hope the Pope gave them.” And this hope includes the belief that “civil society and all of us do not forget them, as Pope Francis often urged us to remember,” Ambarus stated.