Massive crowds fill St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’s funeral: Did the pope write a now-viral “letter from the hospital”?
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
“He was a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone.” This is how Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re described Pope Francis in Saturday morning’s funeral for the deceased pontiff. It was remarkable to see more than 250,000 people fill St. Peter’s Square from all over the world. They came in such numbers that more than four hundred priests were required to serve communion to all who wanted to receive it. With Pope Francis’s burial, the church began nine days of official mourning, known as the novemdiales, then the conclave gathers to elect the next pope.
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For more on what's next for the Roman Catholic Church, see Dr. Jim Denison's explainer: “The funeral of Pope Francis and the papal conclave to follow.”)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good day and welcome to Denison Forums, Monday, April the 28th, 2025 edition of the Daily Article Podcast. |
| 0:10.7 | I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's daily article written by our co-founder and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison. |
| 0:19.4 | Quote, he was a pope among the people with an open heart toward everyone he loved. |
| 0:25.3 | This is how Cardinal Giovanni Battista Ray described Pope Francis in Saturday morning's funeral |
| 0:30.7 | for the deceased pontiff. |
| 0:32.5 | Quote, the guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the church is a home for all, |
| 0:39.2 | a home with its doors always open, he added. To illustrate his point, texts and prayers during |
| 0:45.4 | the service were offered in English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, German, and for the first |
| 0:52.3 | time, Mandarin. The program for the funeral mass was published |
| 0:56.5 | beforehand by the Vatican in English, Italian, and Latin. Watching the service on live television |
| 1:02.3 | was a moving experience for me. It was remarkable to see more than 250,000 people from all |
| 1:08.7 | over the world, Phil St. Peter Square. They came in such numbers that more than 400 |
| 1:14.3 | priests were required to serve communion to all who wanted to receive it. In addition, more than 250,000 |
| 1:21.7 | mourners paid their respects to the Pope in the previous days as his body lay in state. Among his last visitors were French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigette. |
| 1:32.3 | He bowed his head. |
| 1:33.8 | She made the sign of the cross. |
| 1:35.6 | Many at the funeral were dressed in formal attire, but many others were in jeans and t-shirts. |
| 1:41.4 | Further illustrating the inclusive nature of the event, 50 heads of state, |
| 1:46.6 | and 10 reigning monarchs attended the historic service. Among them were U.S. President Trump, |
| 1:53.2 | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Macron, British Prime Minister, |
| 1:58.9 | Kierre Starmer, and United Nations General Secretary Antonio Gutierrez. |
| 2:04.5 | A Russian minister, a minister from Iran, and an ambassador from Israel also attended. |
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