Thousands of faithful wait this Saturday around Basilica de Santa María la Mayorwhere the Pope Francisto give the last goodbye to the Supreme Pontiff.
Carol Díaz, young Catholic of ColombiaHe arrived at 2 in the morning local time (21 hours on Friday in Argentina) to the perimeter of Santa María Mayor of Rome to witness the arrival of the Pope’s coffin, as one more among many other thousands of faithful present around the temple, the EFE agency reported.
“It was very close to young people, we saw him more as a friend. It is a unique event that not all devotees can witness,” said the young woman, who arrived in Rome to participate in Jubilee and coincided with the death of Pope Francis.
In the surroundings of what will be the last abode of the Argentine, faithful mostly Latin American were crowded, many from Mexico, Bolivia and Peru. The presence of young people in the region was also notorious in the Plaza de San Pedro, where the capacity for 40,000 people was widely exceeded by 200,000 pilgrims, according to the Vatican.
Miriam García, a Bolivian resident in Rome for two decades, wanted to go to Santa María la Mayor after returning on Friday of a trip and not being able to visit the Pope’s open coffin in the Pope’s open coffin in the Basilica of San Pedro. “He was a street pope and close to the poor. He left us and caused a lot of sadness, especially Latin Americawhere he was very dear, ”he said.
Among the faithful who got up early to go to the Basilica is also the Guatemalan Edith Navas, resident in Rome, who stood in the front row with a flag of their country with other compatriots.
“When Pope Francis He said ‘sisters and brothers’ I wanted to say that we were all the same“He exclaimed and assured that he hopes that the new Pontiff has a similar style and follow the work.”
Around the square also combines a large multitude of Italian young people who arrived from different parts of the country to attend the jubilee of the young people held these days, including Mattia Costantini, 16. “I wanted to be here in this important moment for the Church. Francisco was an example, a man of hope,” he told Efe.
It is expected that around 1:00 p.m. the Pope’s coffin arrives in a solemn courtship in the center of Rome, after its funeral in the Plaza San Pedro del Vaticano.
Francisco will be buried in a simple grave in Santa María la Mayor, made with marble from the Italian region of Liguriawhere part of their maternal grandparents came from.
Source: Ambito
