Tearful crowd gathers as Pope Francis is carried to his final resting place

VATICAN CITY — Early Saturday morning, Pope Francis’ Coffin arrived at St. Mary Major, his final resting place.

The faithful began filing out after a solemn funeral mass in honor of Pope Francis. At the end, the crowd clapped in unison as 14 white gloved pall bearers tilted the casket toward the crowd.

It was a powerful end to a mass peppered with tears and cheers.

Once his casket was loaded onto a makeshift popemobile, his remains were carried down the main aisle of the basilica., Spectators saw the image on the screens in St. Peter and erupted in cheers.

The Faithful were on the backside of the square, priests were on left in a sea of white while on the right, were the dignitaries all dressed in black.

Cardinals were just to the left of the altar as they processed in, among the men in red, was the next pope.

Sounds of the Sistine Chapel choir singing for the pope for a final time echoed through the crowd.

In his homily, Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re talked of Pope Francis’ devotion to mercy and forgiveness, and his desire to end war and find peace, to build bridges not walls. It drew cheers from the crowd. 

The cardinal asked that from heaven Pope Francis bless Rome and the world as the very ill 88-year-old blessed everyone last Sunday at Easter. 

Once the casket arrived at St. Mary Major, he was greeted by a group of poor people who, of course, had a special place in Pope Francis’ heart.

A day of ceremony and a celebration of life, the life of a man who gave everything until his last breath.