‘World will always remember his service to society’: PM Modi pays tribute to Pope Francis

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the world will always remember His Holiness Pope Francis for his service to society.

“Rashtrapati Ji pays homage to His Holiness, Pope Francis on behalf of the people of India. The world will always remember his service to society,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

On Friday, President Droupadi Murmu paid homage to Pope Francis at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City along with senior Indian ministers, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

She was accompanied by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, and Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, George Kurian, as mentioned by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a post on X.

Prime Minister Modi had met Pope Francis on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Apulia, Italy.

The two leaders had previously met in 2021 at the Vatican, where they discussed a wide range of issues, including the COVID-19 outbreak.

Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta on April 21, according to a statement from the Vatican.

He was the first Latin American pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church after succeeding Pope Benedict XVI on March 13, 2013.

Pope Francis, who was the first pontiff from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order, had requested simpler funeral rites. In keeping with his wishes, his body was placed in a single wooden coffin, foregoing the traditional triple-layered coffins of cypress, lead, and oak used in previous papal funerals.

The rite was led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who oversees funeral arrangements following the death of a pope. Farrell, a Dublin-born cleric and naturalised American citizen, previously served as Bishop of Dallas.

Pope Francis’ final burial site will be at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. His tomb, crafted from Ligurian marble — a nod to his great-grandfather’s origins —will remain simple by design, featuring only an image of the cross he wore as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and his papal name inscribed in Latin as Franciscus. (ANI)