The days after Holy Week in Rome, were marked by the unexpected visit of millions of people, many had planned their visit in advance to the “eternal city”, where they planned to visit among other things the Roman Colosseum, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, attractive for its rich history and its greatness.
But an unusual event altered the plans and caused many more people to arrive in Rome than expected, to say goodbye to Pope Francis, who died on Monday, April 21, just after Easter Sunday.
From that moment on, reservations for hotels, flights and trains to the place increased significantly, reinforcements were implemented and the city of Rome received a crowd of faithful and tourists.
In this context, from Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 April 2025, the burning chapel was enabled where thousands and thousands of people made hours of long lines to be able to enter for a few seconds to say goodbye to Pope Francis, the Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio, recognized as the Pope of mercy, a man who revolutionized the church in his 12 years of papacy, with his humility and displays of love for the most vulnerable sectors of society.
The simple coffin of Pope Francis was for 3 days in the imposing St. Peter’s Basilica, before the coffin was moved on Saturday, April 26, through the streets of Rome from St. Peter’s Square to the Basilica of St. Mary the Greater, place that Francis chose for his burial.
More than 400,000 people have attended the funeral and funeral procession of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday.
The main leaders of the world were present to say goodbye to the Pope on Saturday, there were delegations from 148 countries and territories, including Palestine and Kosovo, where 10 kings and leaders of international organizations also participated.
Top world leaders paid honor to Francisco
Among the attendees were the President of the United States Donald Trump and his wife, the President of France Emanuel Macron and his wife, Prince William and the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the President of the Bundestag Julia Klöckner, King Felipe of Spain with his wife, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriákos Mitsotákis and his wife, the kings Philip and Matilda of Belgium, Prince Albert II and Charlene of Monaco, Dukes Henry and Mary Teresa of Luxembourg, Kings Charles XVI Gustav and Silvia of Sweden, as well as Crown Princes Haakon and Mette-Marit of Norway. In addition, the presence of other monarchs was expected, such as Kings Abdullah II and Rania of Jordan, King Letsie III of Lesotho and Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
They were also among others the president of Lithuania, that of Finland, that of Estonia, the president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with his wife (who decreed seven days of official mourning for the death of the Pontiff), the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaikh Abdulla Ahmed Abdulla AlKhalifa with a delegation, and the former president of the United States Joe Biden and the former lady Jill Biden.
While in the front row, they were the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni along with the President of Argentina Javier Milei, who stressed that “Pope Francis has been the most important Argentine in history”.
