PALERMO, Sicily (CN) — A funeral for Pope Francis will take place on Saturday in Rome with numerous religious and political leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump saying they will be in attendance.
Vatican officials said Francis died on Easter Monday of a cerebral stroke that caused a coma and the collapse of his cardiovascular system. He was 88.
Francis, the first Latin American and Jesuit pontiff, was beloved for his warmth, joviality and intellect. His death was a major blow to many Catholics around the world, especially those embracing his progressive worldview and compassion for the poor, downtrodden and marginalized.
Italy, Lebanon, Brazil, Argentina, the pope’s native country, and other nations announced periods of official mourning as the pope’s body lay in rest at his residency, Casa Santa Marta, a guesthouse in Vatican City.
The Vatican released images that showed Francis in an open coffin, dressed in red and white vestments and holding a rosary. The coffin will be moved to St. Peter’s Basilica to lie in state until his funeral. Memorial masses were being held around the world.
Trump announced he would make the trip to Rome with first lady Melania Trump. Since his return to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, Trump has not left the United States.
Trump’s presence in Rome will bring into relief his personal differences with Francis, a progressive who castigated Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and plans for mass deportations.
The president’s unexpected trip to Europe comes amid a catastrophic breakdown in transatlantic relations and his interaction with other leaders, such as French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will be closely watched. Trump, though, will find far-right allies at his side, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentinian President Javier Milei.
Unlike most other popes, Francis said in his will that he wanted to be buried at the ancient Santa Maria Maggiore, a papal basilica outside the Vatican where six other popes are buried. Popes are usually interred in the grottoes under St. Peter’s Basilica.
In keeping with his keen sense of humility, Francis simplified rites for papal funerals last year. He asked to be buried “in the earth” in a simple tomb with only the inscription “Franciscus” on it. His coffin will be taken from the Vatican to the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica by the Vatican’s Swiss Guards.
At the beginning and end of every apostolic trip, Francis prayed inside the Santa Maria Maggiore, or St. Mary Major. In his will, he said he wanted his tomb to be located next to the Pauline Chapel, the site of a Marian icon, the Salus Populi Romani, that is important for Jesuits.
Francis’ legacy
Over his 12-year papacy, Francis tried to reform the church to make it more inclusive and global by standing up for migrants, labor unions, the LGBTQ community and women. He also rocked the church’s conservative foundations with his openness toward same-sex couples and divorcees and a willingness to allow women to be ordained and priests to marry.
However, despite his progressive views and desire for reform, the basic workings of the church were left mostly untouched, experts said. Women still can’t become priests, priests still must be celibate and priests are not required to give their blessing to same-sex and remarried couples.
“In terms of ideology or doctrine, things formally stated, not a lot changed,” said Chris Lowney, the author of “Pope Francis: Why He Leads The Way He Leads.”
“He made clear in the catechism that the death penalty is sinful and not appropriate,” Lowney said, speaking by telephone. “But apart from that, there aren’t real changes in the catechism.”
In canon law, Francis approved harsher penalties for priests found guilty of abusing children, according to the Rev. Thomas Massaro, a Jesuit priest, professor of religion at Fordham University and author of two books about Francis.
“They were on the books before, but they were somewhat lenient and there was a lot of discretion left up to an archbishop,” he said. “He made it much stricter.”
The harsher penalties for child sex abuse were part of a wider effort by Francis to deal with the church’s sex abuse scandals.
Lowney said it was too early to evaluate how deeply Francis’ papacy will change the Catholic Church.
He said a core goal of Francis was to decentralize decision-making away from cardinals and the Vatican and give individual parishes and churches more power with the aim of drawing people back to the church. The Catholic Church, like other major religions, has seen its number of faithful dwindle for decades and Francis saw reversing that trend a priority. During his papacy, though, the Catholic Church, with about 1.3 billion followers worldwide, continued to shrink, especially in Europe and North America.
“A very key concept in Jesuit spirituality, Jesuit life, is that we have to be discerning,” Lowney said. “What Jesuits mean by that is to be very reflective and open to God’s spirit in the face of major decisions and challenges; for example, how do we draw people back to the Catholic Church.”
“Just doing what he’s done so far has been a pretty dramatic change,” he said. “But whether that will take root and last — that style of discerning the way forward — that’s going to clearly depend on his successor and what the successor chooses to emphasize.”
Conclave for the next pope
Inside the church’s hierarchy, the pope’s death revives a fierce competition between progressives and traditionalists over who will be picked as the next pope.
More than 250 cardinals are descending on Rome and in the coming weeks 135 cardinals who are not over the age of 80 will gather as the conclave and, in a secret vote, pick the next pope. Cardinals over the age of 80 cannot vote.
Over the 12 years of his Vatican reign, Francis appointed about 80% of the cardinals eligible to vote, making it more likely that his successor will come from the progressive wing of the church.
But Massaro said the cardinals Francis chose came from different leanings inside the church, leaving it quite difficult to project who might become the next pope.
“He’s appointed some men who are more traditional, probably not extremely traditional, but more traditional than he is,” he said. “And I suspect he’s appointed some men who are more progressive.”
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.