Catholics ubiquitous today bid farewell (26.04.2025) the Pope Francisthe Pope of the poor and the weak, who passed away in his 88th year, Easter Monday, just a few hours after making his last appearance to the faithful, on Easter day, at St. Peter’s Square. Newsit.gr will broadcast minute by minute what is happening in the Vatican.
Minute by minute what is happening in the Vatican
Her Ceremony will be attended by 200,000 faithful and 50 Heads of State and Governmentwhile there are 170 foreign delegations in Rome. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in the Italian capital yesterday afternoon, and shortly before midnight, US President Donald Trump’s aircraft landed.
Leaders who wanted to say goodbye to Argentine Pontiff includes the French President Emmanuel Macron, the German president Frank Walter Steinmeierthe outgoing German Chancellor Alfal Saltz, The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Layen, the president of Brazil Luis Inasio Lula da Silva. Present and the Argentine president Javier Miley, Despite the intense criticism he had exerted in many positions and statements by the St. Father of the Roman Catholic.
In St. Peter’s Square and the grandson of Pope Francis, Mauro Bergot. He worked as a nurse and had stated that he wanted to come to Rome, but had no money for the trip. He will eventually attend the funeral thanks to his country’s travel agency owner, who offered the airline ticket to himself and his wife.
The funeral of the deceased Pontiff, according to his own will, will be “the funeral of a shepherd and a disciple of the Lord, not one of the powerful of the earth,” as Francis himself wrote. After centuries of unchanged ritual, the rule also changed that the corpse of the deceased pope had to be placed in three, different wooden coffins. That of Francis is made of simple wood and, as he had requested, for this last trip, he was put on his old, worn -out shoes he had used on his pastoral trips.
After the funeral is completed, the coffin will be transported by procession to her Basilica Santa Maria Maggiorenear the central train station of the eternal city. Where she asked to be buried “The Pope of the Poor”, a few meters away from her Byzantine image Virgin with Jesusin front of which he used to kneel and pray, every time he returned from abroad.
The procession will cover six kilometers distance, in the historic center of the Italian capital. In the Temple, they will wait for the coffin 40 “Francis Friends”. They are immigrants, imprisoned, transsexual, homeless, whom the Pope had personally met and who had tried to understand and help in his own way. Everyone will leave on the grave a white rosethe flower that was most loved by Jorge Mario Bergolio. The cameras, however, will not enter the churchto record the burial ceremony. Santa Maria Maggiore will reopen on Monday, when she is sure to resume a new popular pilgrimage to the simple, marble memory of the Latin American Pope.
When Pope Francis prayed in Lesvos
It was April 16, 2016 when for the first time a Pope visited Lesvos. It was Pope Francis, who together with the Ecumenical Patriarch and Archbishop Hieronymus found themselves next to the refugees. It was a visit and a historic day.
In the following days in the Municipal Garden, next to the Traditional Town Hall in Mytilene, a waterfront was planted an olive tree blessed by the three hierarchs shortly before leaving the island.
On that day, Pope Francis had sent a message of admiration to the Greek people, to billions of Christians around the world and throughout the human community.
“I would like to express my admiration for the Greek people, who despite the serious difficulties it has to face, was able to keep the heart open and widespread the doors. Too many ordinary people put that little they had, to share it with anyone who was deprived of everything. “
Particularly, addressing the inhabitants of Lesvos, as opposed to the states of Europe and the fences that raised then, the Pope said that “they prove that in these soils, which is a cradle of culture, the heart of a humanity who knows how to recognize him, How to raise fences will feel safer. “
The Pope “in the concerns of institutions and the world, here in Greece as well as in other countries in Europe” made special mention “which, he typically said,” are understandable and legal “. But he added, “nevertheless, we must not forget that refugees and immigrants, before they are numbers, are people, they are faces, names, stories.”
Finally, the Pope had invited the world community to firmly fight against uncontrolled production and trafficking of weapons and the radicals often behind them. “Those who pursue hatred and violence must lose all support,” he said, noting: “On the contrary, cooperation between countries, international organizations and humanitarian institutions must be constantly promoted, not isolating, but in support of the urgent situation.” The Pope had expressed the wish “in this perspective that the first World Humanitarian Summit, which will take place in Istanbul next month, will be successful.”
The Pope’s speech was followed by the prayer of both himself and the other priests and the throwing of wreaths into the sea for the memory of those who left their lives in their attempt to cross the Aegean.
And Pontiff’s prayer
In the precious archive of the RES-EIA from that time, Pontiff’s prayer has been preserved. The following were mentioned:
‘God of mercy,
We ask you for all men, women and children, who have been brought out of this world after leaving their country seeking a better life.
Although many of their graves have no name, each of these people you know, loved him and desired him on this earth.
We trust you all those who ran this journey, enduring fears, uncertainty and humiliation, in order to reach a place of security and hope.
As you did not abandon your Son when he was taken to a place safe from Our Lady and Joseph, so now be close to these children through our tenderness and protection.
Make, by taking care of them, we can promote a world where no one is forced to leave his home and where everyone can live with freedom, dignity and peace.
God of mercy and the father of all, awaken us from the sleep of indifference, open our eyes to their suffering and get us away from anesthesia, which is the fruit of cosmic prosperity and folding in ourselves.
It inspired all of us, nations, communities and individuals, to recognize that those who reach our coasts are our brothers and sisters.
Help us share with them the blessings we received from your hands and recognize that together, as one and only human family, we are all refugees, hope travelers to you, who are our true house, where every tear will be eliminated, where we will be eliminated, where you will be eliminated.