Pope Francis believed ‘Church is a home for all’ – homily
A photograph taken from St Peter Basilica shows a view of late Pope Francis’ coffin during the funeral ceremony in St Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, on April 26, 2025. Agence France-Presse
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, who famously refused to judge gay or divorced Catholics, believed the Church “is a home for all”, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his funeral homily.
He was driven by “the conviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open… a Church capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds”, he said.
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Re eulogized Pope Francis on Saturday as a pope of the people, a paster who knew how to communicate to the “least among us” with an informal, spontaneous style.
Re called Francis “a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone.”
He recalled the last image many people have of Francis was of him delivering what would become his final blessing on Easter Sunday, and saluting from the popemobile in the same piazza where his funeral was being celebrated.
READ: Crowds applaud Pope Francis’ coffin as Vatican funeral begins
A photograph taken from St Peter Basilica shows a general view of St Peter’s Square during the funeral of late Pope Francis, at the Vatican, on April 26, 2025. Agence France-Presse
A litany of saints was sung out during the funeral Mass for Pope Francis, a meditative chant that is part of the traditional rites.
It was followed by a blessing from Eastern rite Catholic churches chanted in Greek by patriarchs and priests. The pages of the New Testament placed atop the coffin fluttered in the wind as Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re blessed the coffin with incense and holy water.
The crowd applauded as white-gloved pallbearers lifted the pope’s coffin to bring it back inside the basilica. From there, it will be moved to the popemobile to make its way across Rome to Francis’ burial place in St. Mary Major.
