Poor, immigrants and transsexuals, in the front row to receive the Pope's coffin in Santa Maria la Mayor

The pope wanted the excluded people to be there when the curtain of the funeral events fell, and so it was. At the arrival of the coffin to the Basilica of Santa Maria la Mayor - the place chosen for burial - a group of forty poor, prisoners, transsexuals, homeless and immigrants waited for the remains of the pontiff carrying each one a rose in their hand. It was the last gesture towards the destitute of a pontificate who intended to put them in…

Homeless, prisoners, transsexuals and migrants accompany the pontiff's coffin in the Basilica of Santa Maria La Mayor

“They had a privileged place in the heart and teaching of the Holy Father, who chose the name of Francis to never forget them,” the Vatican recalled. It was a last gesture that embodies the whole spirit of his pontificate, dedicated to the “marginalized”: in St. Mary Major, where he was buried, the coffin of Francis [...]

It was a last gesture that embodies the whole spirit of his pontificate, dedicated to the “marginated”: in Santa María la Mayor, where he was buried, Francis’ coffin was received by a group of migrants, transsexuals, poor and prisoners. In the esplanade and the basilica, 40 special guests, organized by Caritas del Vaticano and the Community of Sant’Egidio, waited to receive the coffin with a rose in their hand. Francis, the pope of the marginali…

Francisco, who died on Monday at age 88, expressed his desire that his remains be buried surrounded by "marginalized" people but who had had a special place in his pontificate and heart. Read more

Poor, prisoners, transsexuals, homeless and migrants receive the pontiff's coffin with white roses that have been deposited before the image of Santa Maria de las Nieves