Just hours after welcoming throngs to celebrate Easter, Francis, who was dubbed the “people’s pope” for his emphasis on the most vulnerable members of society,
Passed away on Monday at the age of 88. Before his coffin was officially sealed in private on Friday, with his face hidden under a plain white shroud,
He lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica for three days, with over 250,000 mourners walking by him day and night.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his funeral address that Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart” who worked to create a more sympathetic, tolerant Catholic Church.
