Pope Francis has been laid to rest in a moving funeral in Saint Peter’s Square on Saturday, with hundreds of thousands of joining in person to farewell the deceased pontiff as millions watched on at home.
Cardinals, bishops, priests, politicians, world leaders and joined more than 200,000 faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square to participate in the funeral, a sign of the immense breadth of love Pope Francis had engendered across the globe.
Bishop Anthony Randazzo was among the Bishops gathered for the funeral, along with Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, President of the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference.
The Mass was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
In his homily, the 91-year-old Cardinal said Pope Francis had lived a life of service to others, even to his last day.
“Despite his frailty and suffering toward the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life,” Cardinal Re said.
“He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved his sheep to the point of giving his life for them.
“The outpouring of affection that we have witnessed in recent days following his passing from this earth into eternity tells us how much the profound pontificate of Pope Francis touched minds and hearts.”
Following the funeral, the deceased Pontiff’s body was processed through the streets of Rome, to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major where he was entombed.
He was entombed in a 30-minute rite, presided over by Camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell and senior members of the College of Cardinals.
Earlier in the week, hundreds of thousands of people had gathered to file past the Pope’s body as it lay in state in Saint Peter’s Basilica.
A date for the Papal Conclave to elect a new Pope is yet to be announced.