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The late pope sent a telegram marking the 560th anniversary of the saint’s canonization in 2021 calling her “a great female figure of faith.”
The Vatican announced Monday that the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.
Speaking at St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, the 54-year-old vicar general for the Diocese of Rome described how the faithful feel like “sheep without a shepherd.”
The six-kilometer funeral procession that carried Pope Francis from St. Peter's to St. Mary Major was filled with profound symbolism, from the Dodge Ram popemobile serving as hearse to white roses representing his devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin presided over the solemn Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday held in St. Peter’s Square.
The video, shared by the Italian weekly magazine “Oggi,” was made public one day after the funeral Mass of Pope Francis, who died at the Vatican on April 21.
Carlo went on pilgrimage to see John Paul II, offered up his suffering from cancer for Benedict XVI, and was later beatified during the pontificate of Pope Francis.
“Brothers and sisters, precisely on Divine Mercy Sunday we remember our beloved Pope Francis with affection,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Sunday.
On Aug. 17, 2002, St. John Paul II entrusted the world to divine mercy as he consecrated the International Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki, Poland.
The pope’s burial site, at his request, is the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the four papal basilicas in Rome. He joins seven other popes buried there.
“[It was a] good meeting. We discussed a lot one-on-one,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “Hoping for results on everything we covered.”
Crowds of faithful lined the route to St. Mary Major as the late pontiff made his final journey to the basilica he visited more than 100 times during his papacy.
“The outpouring of affection that we have witnessed ... tells us how much the profound pontificate of Pope Francis touched minds and hearts,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said.
Under the bright Roman sun and amid crowds extending down the Via della Conciliazione, the funeral Mass unfolded within the great colonnade of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Saturday’s funeral will kick off the traditional Novendiales, nine consecutive days of mourning for the suffrage of the late pope. He will be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
The first of thousands of pilgrims were already lining up along the streets to catch a glimpse of the late pontiff as his body passes by on the way to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, presided over the rite of the closing and sealing of the coffin.
Pope Francis’ 47 apostolic journeys brought him to 68 countries during his pontificate — many of which included a number of papal firsts.
Long lines of mourners, many waiting more than four hours under the hot Roman sun, wound around St. Peter’s Square on the first day of viewing on April 23.
The rite began in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta and ended with the Holy Father’s body before the Altar of Confession in St. Peter’s Basilica.