Pope Francis’s work on peace must be remembered at funeral – Irish president

Pope Francis’s work on peace and sustainability must be remembered by those attending his funeral on Saturday, Irish president Michael D Higgins has said.

Mr Higgins and his wife Sabina paid their respects at the lying in state of Francis in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Friday.

Mr Higgins and Sabina were pictured stopping at Francis’s open coffin in the basilica for a few moments.

On Saturday, the couple will return to St Peter’s Square for the pontiff’s funeral, which will be attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Irish premier Micheal Martin, Irish deputy premier Simon Harris, Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin and Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell are also expected to attend.

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has also confirmed she will travel to Rome to join leaders from across the world for the pontiff’s funeral.

The Sinn Fein vice president has cut short a family holiday to attend.

In a statement ahead of the funeral, Mr Higgins said: “As President of Ireland, I am pleased to communicate the appreciation of all of the people of Ireland for the life, the documents and the contacts to the most vulnerable all over the world made by Pope Francis, who I was honoured to meet with on five occasions.

“The world was struck by the generosity given by Pope Francis, right until the very last moments of his life, in terms of seeking to embrace, as he put it, all of humanity.

“Through his life and his work, Pope Francis led by example in embracing so many of the most important issues facing humanity.

“In particular, he was a strong advocate for the fulfilling of obligations in relation to Mother Nature and the indigenous peoples who are paying the highest price for the consequences of climate change, he was a strong spokesperson for how global poverty could be eliminated and he gave leadership in relation to the rights of migrants.

“In attending the funeral and celebrating the life of Pope Francis, it is important to stress his work on our shared humanity and on the importance of peace, sustainability and of rights.”

This is the third papal funeral that Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, a Dubliner who works at the Vatican, will attend.

He is the secretary for discipline at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is responsible for religious discipline in the Catholic Church.

The Archbishop said Francis’s funeral will be more humble than other papal funerals, but it will have elements that will be typical of other papal funerals, such as world leaders being present.

“These world leaders are going to have a unique opportunity to meet each other, they’ll be there at the ceremony before it begins and I’m sure they’re going to exchange words,” he told RTE Radio, adding that the word “pontifex” means “bridge builder”.

He said the conclave would be “interesting” as Pope Francis had named three-quarters of the cardinals and many were from “far away places”.

“One of the challenges I think is that they are going to have to get to know each other. They might know each other’s names, and maybe even faces, but they have to understand what these men have in terms of a vision for the Church in the future.”

He added: “I would love to see people translating the love that they had for Pope Francis and the love for his beautiful simple gestures into the practice of understanding of their faith.”

The Pope’s funeral is expected to begin at 9am Irish time on Saturday.