Pope Francis’ coffin is now being carried out from St Peter’s Basilica out into St Peter’s Square.
Remember: today’s proceedings are going to look a bit different than previous papal funerals.
For instance, Pope Francis will be laid to rest in a simple wooden casket and instead of being buried in three coffins, he’d asked to only be entombed in one.
These more humble last wishes also reflect who he was as the leader of the Catholic Church.
Throughout his tenure, he often times sided with the plight of refugees and urged compassion for people fleeing their homes.
“Sometimes foreign people are invisible,” Cedric Musau Kasongo told me. He’s a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who met the Pope in 2023.
“To be in front of the Pope, to greet him, to hold his hand, for me it was a great gesture. I felt even more welcomed, seen, and heard.”