During his pontificate, Francisco stood out for addressing controversial issues and offering young people a unique spiritual guide, marked by affection, wisdom and unmistakable charism. He understood the difficulties of growth and personal discovery, and therefore was deeply dear among the new generations.
Young people from France, Argentina, Portugal and the Congo filled the Plaza de San Pedro to honor the Pontiff who knew how to tend bridges with them. Initially, they had traveled to Rome to participate in the jubilee of adolescents, scheduled from April 25 to 27, after Holy Week celebrations, where Santo Carlo Acutis, a young example of faith, would be declared.
From dawn, Rome covered an atmosphere of sadness. More than 150,000 people gathered to give the last goodbye to Pope Francisamong them young people who offered songs, symbolic toasts and tears to the pontiff who inspired them.
A goodbye full of symbols and gratitude
Vatican News reported how the young people expressed their duel: “It is not a farewell, but the beginning of a trip that continues: a poem that will never reach the last verse,” they said as they dedicated a poem to Francisco.
The Pope, who arrived “from the end of the world” to conduct the Holy See, was accompanied by youth crowds throughout the funeral courtship that toured the streets of Rome to the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor, its final destination.
A toast in honor of Pope Francis
Among the signs of affection, a group of young Argentines made a silent toast in honor of the Pope, evoking that phrase of his, loaded with humor and humanity: “A little tequila would not bother me.” Vatican News described the gesture as “a way to remain human, to believe stronger.”
The legacy that inspires the new generations
Francisco’s death, far from turning off his message, promises to bring more young people to Rome during the jubilee year. “It will bring more teenagers to Rome this jubilee year,” said Margarida, a young Portuguese.
“Pope Francis united people through his message of hope and attention to the most needy; he joined Catholics and not Catholics, there were many people who appreciated it,” Manuel and Maria shared, teenagers who joined the tribute.
From the square, hope mixed with faith. “I would like to ask him to take care of the countries at war, even more so that he is in heaven, to help the people who suffer and give them the hope that is missing,” Margarida added.
A farewell song from the Congo
The emotion also came through music. A Congo Gospel choir performed “Amazing Grace” as a tribute to Francisco and as a clamor of peace for his land.
“He gave us strength to move forward, despite ugliness,” Jeanette said, while Kenneth asked: “We need to talk about us, about war. That the world knows.”
Stories that embrace hope
Among the crowd, stories of deep gratitude arose. Madeleine, arrival from France, recalled the phrase of Consuelo that Francisco dedicated to a child who cried for his father Atheist: “God is proud of your dad. He is in heaven, be surely.”
Sienna, a 26 -year -old German girl, reflected the feeling of many: she stayed in Rome in search of a faith that Francisco helped strengthen.
The last farewell
The day culminated with the solemn procession that took the coffin of Pope Francis to Santa María la Mayor. There, under the gaze of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani, his memory was recorded in the hearts of thousands of young people who accompanied him to the end.
** With Vatican News information.