Vatican holds first public commemoration following death of Pope Francis

Belfast Telegraph - 21/04
The Vatican has begun a Rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square in its first public commemoration following Pope Francis’s death.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica, led the prayer as the sun set.

The first reading was delivered by Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Vatican City State and one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican.

Faithful gather for a rosary prayer for the late Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square (Andrew Medichini/AP)

Her appointment was a sign of Francis’s insistence that women be given more prominent, decision-making roles.

Pope Francis died on Monday at age 88. History’s first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble st...
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