• Trump, Zelensky meet at pontiff’s burial
Pope Francis was yesterday buried in Rome after a funeral ceremony and procession attended by hundreds of thousands of people and many heads of state.
The deceased pontiff was buried in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, his favourite church in Rome, on Saturday afternoon, after a two-hour funeral service held in St Peter’s Square, the Holy See said.
Nigeria was represented by a delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Some 150,000 people had earlier bid farewell to the pope from the roadside as his funeral procession passed through central Rome, according to estimates by the Vatican.
Leaders and dignitaries from around the world had earlier attended his funeral service, held in St. Peter’s Square.
The convoy travelled through the centre of Rome, passing some of its best-known sites including the Forum and Colosseum, accompanied by several escort vehicles and police motorbikes.
Some 250,000 gathered for the funeral service, both in St Peter’s Square itself and in the surrounding streets.
In total, the authorities counted around 400,000 people, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said, according to media reports.
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The first South American pontiff passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 88, marking the end of a 12-year pontificate.
As the Italian capital woke up to a hazy morning, teenage pilgrims, nuns and priests of all denominations filed silently down the streets leading to the Vatican.
Many of the streets around St Peter’s Basilica were closed – both to allow the flow of visitors and for security reasons, as more than a hundred foreign dignitaries were expected to join the funeral mass.
More than 8,000 Italian police of different branches were out in force, as well as firefighters, medics, canine unit handlers, volunteers, members of the armed forces and even park guards.
Many had been called in from all sides of Italy to be in Rome today – resulting in a rather joyous blend of accents from across the country, from the Sicilian to the Milanese.
By 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) much of the square was already full.
Jessica, 22 and from Mexico, and Cyril, 20 and from the US, had arrived at dawn to secure a front row spot to the funeral mass.
“We never thought we’d be this close. We sacrificed a little sleep to be here but it’s worth it,” said Jessica.
She’s a Catholic and said her relatives in Mexico would “never believe it” when she told them she had been at the Vatican for the Pope’s funeral.
As heads of state and foreign dignitaries took their places to the right of the altar, hundreds of photographers in the press area on the roof of the colonnade snapped their cameras furiously, hoping to capture a candid image of US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose last meeting in February gave rise to a combative exchange in the Oval Office.
But soon after, as a striking photo of the two men sitting on two chairs inside St Peter’s began to circulate, it emerged that they had already met for about 15 minutes before the service began
Later, Zelensky said the meeting “had potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”.
No more details were shared, but some on social media later joked that, given the setting, the meeting had been a “miracle”.