About 250,000 People Paid Respects To Pope Francis Over 3 Days

Anderson Cooper 360

CNN

News

4.1 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With Pope Francis' funeral just hours away, the Vatican says about 250,000 paid their respects to the pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica. Francis was known for his love of those on the margins - immigrants, the poor, those too often shunted aside. CNN’s Clarissa Ward talks with a female inmate who met the pope last year, when he came to her prison. She remembers him as a “Pope of the people.” And perspective on this moment from Andrew Sullivan, who has written often, and eloquently about the pontiff, the church, and his own Catholic faith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	And good evening. It is Saturday morning here at St. Peter's Square behind me.
0:06.0	The funeral of Pope Francis now just eight hours away.
0:09.0	The square is closed at the moment. It will reopen at 7 a.m. local time, just three hours ahead of what is expected to be the largest single event here since the funeral of Pope John Paul II, 20 years ago, this month.
0:20.0	Italy's Interior Ministry expects more than 200,000 people to attend,
0:25.0	and about a quarter million people from every corner of the world have already paid their final respects,
0:29.7	filing past the simple coffin and Spartan platform to say a prayer, to reflect and say goodbye.
0:36.1	Then in a private ceremony led by a cardinal,
0:38.9	Carmelingo Kevin Farrell, the church's acting head, a white silk veil was spread over the late
0:43.8	Pope's face, his body sprinkled with holy water. Let's pause and listen for a moment. Finally, in a gesture officially ending this three-day lying-in-state period, the coffin was closed and sealed, and then the
1:11.0	basilica was filled with the sound of a hymn to marry the Mother of Christ. Outside all day today, and in fact ever since Pope Francis died, security of course has been ramping up.
1:38.3	The effort complicated by his desire to be buried outside the walls of the Vatican several miles away from us,
1:44.7	meaning a funeral procession through the streets of Rome and many points along the way to safeguard.
1:49.8	That and potentially upwards of 100 foreign delegations all here for the funeral.
1:54.0	The president, First Lady, arrived a short time ago aboard Air Force One.
1:57.2	He was asked whether he'd be speaking with some of his global counterparts.
2:03.1	Who were you attending? Some people in Rome, yes.
2:04.6	And a little bit quickly, and frankly, it's a little disrespectful to have meetings
2:09.1	when you're at the funeral of a pope, they say.
2:13.0	But I'll be talking to people, I'll be seeing a lot of people, including the Prime Minister of Italy.
2:23.5	Again, about 200,000 people are expected here for the funeral.
2:26.7	I spent part of the day with mourners in the square,
2:28.8	getting a first-hand look at preparations and security.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CNN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of CNN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.