Rome, Apr. 26, (dpa/GNA) – The late Pope Francis was honoured at his funeral service in the Vatican on Saturday for his commitment to serving the poor and needy.
“He touched hearts,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who led the Requiem Mass in front of 200,000 people amassed in St Peter’s Square.
“Countless were his gestures and exhortations in favour of refugees and displaced persons,” the cardinal said, “and he was also tireless in his commitment to the poor.”
Cardinal Re thanked the mourners for coming and for the global outbreak of sympathy following Francis’s death on Easter Monday.
He also highlighted Francis’ opposition to violence and conflict.
“In the face of the many wars raging in recent years, with their inhuman atrocities, their countless deaths and their immeasurable destruction, Pope Francis raised his voice incessantly to ask for peace and to call for reason,” the cardinal said.
“After war, the world is always worse off than before. It is always a painful and dramatic defeat for everyone.”
Among the state guests at the funeral service was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country has been defending itself against Russia’s war of aggression for more than three years.
Also in attendance was US President Donald Trump, who listened on as Re said that Francis had always urged people to build bridges “and not walls.”
The late pope shared people’s fears, suffering and hopes “with great human warmth and deep sensitivity,” the cardinal said.
GNA
PDC