Pope Francis Funeral Live Updates: Pope buried in Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, says Vatican

Pope Francis's coffin left the Vatican on a white popemobile following his funeral at St Peter's Square on Saturday. Thousands of people lined the streets along the route as the coffin was driven across Rome to its final resting place at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.

Special prayers were held at St Joseph Cathedral Church in Imphal on Pope Francis' funeral. Here's what Archbishop Dr Linus Neil said:

“The Catholic Church in Manipur is organising a prayer service in a special manner. This is a special worship service for the dead, pleading to God to have mercy on his great soul and grant him eternal rest and happiness.” (PTI)

In a notable diplomatic development, US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a private meeting in Rome on Saturday, just before the funeral of Pope Francis. The brief meeting, confirmed by both the White House and Ukrainian officials, marked their first face-to-face encounter since their tense Oval Office conversation in February. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung described the meeting as "very productive" and stated that additional details would be shared later.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re eulogized Pope Francis on Saturday as a pope of the people, a paster who knew how to communicate to the “least among us” with an informal, spontaneous style.
Re called Francis “a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone.”

He recalled the last image many people have of Francis was of him delivering what would become his final blessing on Easter Sunday, and saluting from the popemobile in the same piazza where his funeral was being celebrated.

"President Trump and President Zelensky met privately today and had a very productive discussion," said White House communications director Steven Cheung, saying more details would follow.

World leaders and Catholic faithful bade farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral Saturday reflecting his priorities as pope and wishes as pastor. Though presidents and princes attended the Mass in St Peter’s Square, prisoners and migrants will welcome him into the basilica across town where he will be laid to rest.

Some 200,000 people flocked to the funeral, held on a brilliant spring day that was supposed to have been a special Holy Year celebration for adolescents. Perhaps because so many young people were on hand, the somber ceremony still had a festive mood, with mourners taking selfies amid the hymns as Francis' simple coffin was brought out of St. Peter’s Basilica at the start of the Mass.

Francis had choreographed the funeral himself when he revised and simplified the Vatican’s rites and rituals last year. His aim was to emphasize the pope’s role as a mere pastor and not “a powerful man of this world.”

It was a reflection of Francis’ 12-year project to radically reform the papacy, to stress priests as servants and to construct “a poor church for the poor.” He articulated the mission just days after his 2013 election and it explained the name he chose as pope, honoring St Francis of Assisi “who had the heart of the poor of the world,” according to the official decree of the pope's life that was placed in his simple wooden coffin before it was sealed Friday night.

As many as 200,000 people are expected to attend Pope Francis' funeral in St. Peter’s Square as he is being laid to rest Saturday.

While dignitaries are on hand, prisoners and migrants will usher him into the basilica where he will be buried, reflecting his priorities as pope.

US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, the UN chief and European Union leaders are joining Prince William and the Spanish royal family are in attendance.

Francis is breaking with recent tradition and will be buried in the St Mary Major Basilica, where a simple underground tomb awaits him with just his name.

Union Minister of State George Kurian on Saturday said that late Pope Francis was a leader of humankind as he acknowledged and respected all races and religions and served everyone. The Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying is in the Vatican City as part of a delegation led by President Droupadi Murmu to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, who died on April 21.

Speaking to a TV channel from Vatican City, Kurian said that there was a huge "sense of loss" over the passing of the Pope as he was a "leader of humankind".

"He acknowledged and respected all races and religions and served everyone," he said.

Kurian said that the bond between India and the Pope was evident from the fact that President Murmu was there to attend the funeral.

As India observes a day of mourning on the demise of Pope Francis, the Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Panaji, Goa, held a prayer for the Pope on Saturday.
The prayer was led by the Parish Priest, Father Walter De Sa, who prayed for peace in Heaven for the Pope.

Speaking to ANI after the prayers, he highlighted Pope Francis' legacy of "revolutionising the world."

"A special mass celebrating the life of late Pope Francis, who passed away on 21st April in the morning. Today is his funeral in Rome. People are gathered in the Vatican, including many leaders. He is a person who has revolutionised the world, inculcating in them human values and gospel values," the Father told ANI.

President Donald Trump will be among more than 50 heads of state and other dignitaries attending Saturday's funeral for Pope Francis, where he'll personally pay his respects to the Roman Catholic leader who pointedly disagreed with him on a variety of issues. Trump told reporters he was going to the funeral "out of respect" for the pontiff, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88.

The president and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Rome late Friday for the service at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Saturday morning. Francis will be laid to rest during a private burial at St. Mary Major Basilica outside the Vatican's walls.

Francis sharply disagreed with Trump's approach on issues including immigration, the treatment of migrants and climate change. The Argentine pontiff and the American president sparred early in their relationship over immigration.

In 2016, Francis, alluding to then-candidate Trump and his campaign slogan of "Build the wall," called anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants " not Christian." Trump said the comment was "disgraceful."

Tens of thousands of mourners flooded into St Peter's Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the champion of the poor and the Catholic Church's first Latin American leader.

Some people waited overnight to be first in the queue for the ceremony, which will be attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky as well as royals and red-robed cardinals from across the globe.

The Argentine pontiff, who died on Monday aged 88, sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy.

Some 250,000 people paid their respects before his coffin during its three days of lying in state at St Peter's Basilica, and huge numbers gathered from dawn on Friday to attend his final send-off.

"He was not just the pope, he was what the definition of being human is," said Andrea Ugalde, 39, who flew from Los Angeles to attend Saturday's mass.