Mourners bid solemn farewell to Pope Francis

Vatican City: In a solemn and majestic funeral on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, the Roman Catholic Church on Saturday laid to rest Pope Francis, the first South American pontiff, whose simple style, pastoral vision and outsize footprint on the world stage both reinvigorated and divided the institution that he led for a dozen years.

The ceremony, with Gregorian chants and Latin verses reverberating through the piazza, unfolded against a backdrop of geopolitical turmoil and war. President Donald Trump was there and so was President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The two men met before the service and, according to the White House, had "a very productive discussion." It was their first in-person meeting since a fiery argument at the Oval Office in late February.

At the funeral, heads of state, royals and religious leaders sat with an array of Catholic prelates in brilliant red robes around a closed cypress coffin holding the body of Francis, who died on Monday at age 88. Atop his coffin, the pages of an open gospel fluttered in the breeze.

Hundreds of thousands of faithful filled and spilled out of St. Peter's Square and streamed down the long avenue to the Tiber River. In the previous days, about 250,000 waited on long lines to say farewell to the pope, whose body was dressed in red vestments and scuffed black shoes, as he lay in state before the basilica's altar.

The papal coffin was then loaded into a customized white vehicle, known as the popemobile, which drove through Rome, past crowds of people with their hands aloft and chanting "great," to the papal basilica of St. Mary Major. There, Francis was being buried during a private ceremony in a tomb with a one-word inscription: "Franciscus."

Here is what else to know:

Simplified ceremony: Francis last year had approved guidelines to make his funeral a less grand affair than those of his predecessors, reflecting his view of the pope as a humble pastor rather than a powerful figure. The centuries-old rites, however, still involved Catholic pageantry and 250,000 participants, the Vatican said. Accompanying the Mass were the sober melodies of Gregorian chants, sung by the pope's personal choir.

Choosing a successor: After the burial, the focus will turn in earnest to the election of the next pope by the College of Cardinals at a conclave to begin in May.

Remembering Francis: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, in a homily on Francis' legacy, called him "a pope among the people" but avoided obvious political overtones. Bible readings that Francis chose for the ceremony affirmed Christian messages of hope and inclusivity.