Despite his severe health issues.” After the outdoor liturgy, the pontiff’s casket was taken back inside the basilica, amid the cheers of the funeral crowd.
Those who traveled from the UK and Ireland emphasized how important it was to be there in person to commemorate Francis’s life and pontificate.
Manchester resident Phil Callaghan said he immediately booked flights after the Pope’s death, calling the crowds in the city “astounding” and said “it’s shown just how much Pope Francis meant to people.”
It had been ‘an unbelievable chance to see history’, friend and fellow Mancunian Kate Wilkinson told the PA news agency in Rome, calling it ‘the most beautiful moment of my life’.
