Millions of people around the world have tuned in to watch Pope Francis' funeral.
The 88-year-old, who had led the Catholic Church since 2013, died on Monday after suffering a stroke.
The choice of a simple wooden coffin was due to Pope Francis' wish to have "the funeral of a "shepherd, not of a sovereign", as Catholic Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravell put it recently. Source: AAP / Domenico Cippitelli / LiveMedia / ipa-agency.net / Sipa USA
SBS chief international correspondent Ben Lewis, reporting live from the Vatican, said the ceremony was at times so quiet one could have heard a pin drop.
Some 160 foreign delegations attended the funeral alongside world leaders including United States President Donald Trump.
US President Donald Trump was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump at the funeral of Pope Francis. Source: AAP / marco iacobucci / ipa-agency.net/PA
The pair met for around 15 minutes at the Vatican before the event on Saturday and agreed to meet again later the same day for further talks, a spokesperson for Zelenskyy said.
Photos released by Zelenskyy's office showed him and Trump sitting opposite each other in Saint Peter's Cathedral, with none of their aides in the vicinity. Source: AAP / Presidential Press Service Handout / EPA
In front of hundreds of world leaders attending the funeral, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re called for care for migrants, an end to wars, and action on global climate change — Francis' favourite political themes.
Re also repeated one of the Pope's strongest criticisms of Trump by calling to "build bridges, not walls".
Trump and the Pope exchanged criticisms over a decade, mostly related to the Pope's plea for compassion for migrants,
Pope Francis touched people's hearts "in a direct and immediate way", Cardinal Re said at the funeral. Source: AAP / Pool / CatholicPressPhoto
St Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta, Sydney, and St Francis Xavier Cathedral in Adelaide will hold special masses to honour Pope Francis.
A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. Source: AAP / Gregorio Borgia/AP
Cardinal Bychok, who Francis made a Cardinal late in 2024, said the period since the pontiff's death on Easter Monday had been "a most challenging time".
"As a newly appointed cardinal, this experience is still very new to me," he said.
"I have only just arrived here in Rome after spending several days in the Holy Land - days that were marked by silence, prayer, and reflection in the very places where our Lord walked."
Cardinal Bychok will be part of the conclave to choose a new pontiff, expected to start early in May.
