0:00
OK, well, communion is now being handed out
0:06
throughout St Peter's Square, a remarkable thing to see on such a scale
0:11
Ellie Costello has been monitoring all of this, and I know, Ellie, this..
0:17
I mean, frankly, to be there must be almost overwhelming. It truly is, Stephen
0:24
I mean, the sounds right now of the Sistine Chapel choir just ringing out across St. Peter's Square
0:31
I can't even put into words how beautiful, solemn and poignant this moment is
0:40
And also, I wanted to touch on the level of organisation as well
0:46
that we are witnessing in front of us right now. I can see the priests receiving communion there
0:53
4,000 of them in St. Peter's Square for this funeral. and many of them will then go on to give out communion to the crowds that are here
1:06
750 bishops, you can see them there in purple, and 220 cardinals
1:14
It is the most incredible sight, and the reverence in the crowd is so striking
1:23
It's hot here today. It's, let me just take a look at how hot it is
1:29
20 degrees already at 25 past 11 in the morning, and there are pilgrims down in St Peter's Square now fanning themselves
1:40
They are, there's now a sea of umbrellas where the temperatures are obviously starting to soar now
1:46
and they could be forgiven perhaps for being distracted from the requiem mass that is taking place considering it is in Latin and it is a long service but that is not the case
1:59
They are all facing forwards. They are focused. They are reflecting on the words that have been said by Cardinal Ray
2:10
and the beautiful sounds of the Sistine Chapel Choir. It truly is just the most beautiful atmosphere here
2:24
And as you were touching upon earlier, a celebration as well as obviously marking the very sad passing of Pope Francis
2:33
It's a celebration of his memory and everything that he stood for
2:38
And we saw that in the 20-minute homily, didn't we? which we now have a translation for that has come through on email to us from the Vatican
2:50
So I will get the English translation for us here, because it really was so poignant, wasn't it
2:58
in such a broken world that we are living in at the moment
3:03
The words there of Cardinal Ray talking about the gospel and about Pope Francis
3:11
and he concluded that sermon by talking about Pope Francis and his message to people, which was
3:22
do not forget to pray for me. It's what he always said to people when he was leaving them
3:28
We heard that from the priests that we were speaking to earlier on
3:32
on breakfast, they said the same thing. It was his message. And now, what a wonderful message to us all
3:40
that we can pray to Pope Francis as well
