SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
In Rome today, hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate the life of Pope Francis.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #1: (Singing in non-English language).
DETROW: Global leaders, royals and military men and women joined the cardinals and bishops and other faithful of the church to pay homage to a man who was remembered as the pope who touched hearts and minds.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Italian).
DETROW: Francis' funeral was held under crystal blue skies in St. Peter's Square. NPR's Ruth Sherlock takes us there.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR SINGER: (Singing in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #1: (Singing in non-English language).
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Pope Francis' simple wooden casket, as he'd requested, rested before the altar at the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, the humble center of a grand spectacle.
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SHERLOCK: Around him was a colorful tapestry - the blood red of the Cardinal's robes, the monks in brown that contrasted with the nuns in black and white.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #1: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: The prayers for Pope Francis were held in many languages - in Arabic...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Arabic).
SHERLOCK: ...In Portuguese...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Portuguese).
SHERLOCK: ...And in Mandarin.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Mandarin).
SHERLOCK: ...A global send-off for the Pope.
THOMAS MASTERS: He reached out to other religions, other faiths, whether it was Jewish, whether it was Muslim or Islam.
SHERLOCK: Bishop Thomas Masters from Florida is in the crowd of thousands in St. Peter's Square, dressed in his bright purple religious robe.
MASTERS: He built bridges, and he crossed those bridges with people, hand in hand. So we are grateful.
SHERLOCK: This is a jubilee year in Rome, and millions of Catholic pilgrims were expected to walk these cobbled streets. To this crowd, the dean of the College of Cardinals, 91-year-old Gian Battista Re, read the homily.
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GIAN BATTISTA RE: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: He says, "the response to Francis' passing from this Earth into eternity tells us how the profound pontificate of Francis touched minds and hearts."
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RE: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: These include those of young people.
JEAN LUCA ANDREONNE: I'm here with friends.
SHERLOCK: Jean Luca Andreonne is 13. I asked him what he liked about Francis.
JEAN: He was really nice to the young and also to the old, to the last one, like, the ones that don't have a house or the poor - poorest ones.
SHERLOCK: Francis cared for the poor, for example, often slipping out of the vatican to visit homeless shelters nearby.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #2: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: Grand colonnades help close the edges of St. Peter's Square, and above them are 140 statues of Catholic saints.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #2: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: The choir prayed to saints, the voices rising into the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #2: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: Sorsonia De Oliviera, a Brazilian nun, tells me she's sure Francis is ascending to heaven.
SORSONIA DE OLIVIERA: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: "This is a day of sadness and of celebration because it's a special moment for Pope Francis," she says.
UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR #3: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: Francis's pontificate, supported by many liberals, was seen as breaking with many traditions and pushing the church towards openness, including by promoting greater roles for women. For example, he appointed a nun to lead an important department, or dicastery, at the Vatican.
DE OLIVIERA: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: "This would have been unthinkable before," De Oliviera says. "It's a newly opened window for the role of women in the church."
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SHERLOCK: The service comes to an end, and preparations are made to take Pope Francis' casket across the city, past ruins of the Roman forum and the colosseum to the resting place he chose at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
There's going to be a slow procession of cars taking Francis to that church. And we're going to go and see who will be waiting to receive him outside.
Among the crowd waiting outside that basilica is Lucia Latarulo from Bari in south Italy.
LUCIA LATARULO: (Non-English language spoken).
SHERLOCK: Crying, she says, "he was a man of the people that never made us feel different from him." Pope Francis shunned luxury and pomp and his papacy for the more ordinary. In his casket, he still wears his classic scuffed black trainers. This human touch will be part of his legacy.
LATARULO: (Speaking Italian).
SHERLOCK: Latarulo says, this will now be a church to which she will always return when she visits Rome. The cortege arrives.
And here he comes. People are watching from the balconies above.
The casket is brought to the door of Saint Mary Major Basilica. Waiting there, invited by the Catholic charity Caritas, are a group from disadvantaged backgrounds - people without homes, migrants, prisoners, victims of war - a fitting last farewell for this pope who cared. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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