The funeral will be at St Peter’s Square, joined by Kings and Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General and other dignitaries from all corners of the globe. 

Scores lined up to file past his coffin for one final glimpse, to the players and fans of Inter and AC Milan marking a moment of silence in San Siro stadium on Wednesday. 

Argentina, is where Pope Francis spent his years as a parish priest.  

Moments of silence in the UN Security Council and on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, tributes continued to pour in for the late Pope Francis who died in the early hours of Easter Monday at the age of 88. 

From his humble beginnings and the pro-poor life he led, the backdrop to his farewell will be the magnificent papal enclave in Rome and a legion of VIPs that will include the Secretary-General of the UN Antonio Guterres. 

“Through the years, we at the UN we are greatly inspired by his commitment to the goals and ideals of our organisation, a message I was honoured to convey in my meetings with him as Secretary-General. 

Pope Francis also understood that protecting our common home is, at heart, a deeply moral mission and responsibility that belongs to every person. Many of us find great meaning in his final Easter message delivered just on Wednesday. 

He appealed for us not to yield to as he called it, the “logic of fear”. Instead, he urged the world to invest in what he referred to as the “weapons of peace” to help the most vulnerable, to fight hunger, to advance development. “ Guterres said. 

--SABC--