SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Pope Francis was laid to rest today in Rome.
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UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR: (Singing in Latin).
SIMON: It was a final farewell for a pope of many firsts - the first pope from Latin America, the first Jesuit, the first to take the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, who gave up his riches to become poor. Joining us from the edge of St. Peter's Square is NPR's religion correspondent Jason DeRose. Jason, thanks for being with us.
JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: Good morning.
SIMON: Let me begin by asking you first of your overall impressions of today's funeral mass.
DEROSE: Well, a very large congregation this morning. Authorities are estimating about a quarter-million people in and around St. Peter's Square. And the funeral service itself, a very traditional Catholic requiem mass, a service that asks God to grant the person who's died eternal rest, but also a service that expanded the traditional Latin mass by having prayers in a variety of languages.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Arabic).
DEROSE: This one is in Arabic and calls on the church to be leaven for renewal in the human family.
SIMON: Of course, Jason, it's traditional that the dean of the College of Cardinals presides at a pope's funeral. Tell us who that man is and what he said.
DEROSE: Giovanni Battista Re led the service and gave the homily. It's a fitting conclusion, I think, since it was Re who chaired the conclave that elected Francis as pope 12 years ago. In the Gospel reading today, Jesus asks the disciple, Simon Peter, do you love me, three times, and Simon Peter keeps saying, yes, and Jesus keeps responding, feed my flock. Here's how Re applied that text to Francis during the homily. This is an English translation from the Associated Press.
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GIOVANNI BATTISTA RE: (Through interpreter) Pope Francis always placed the Gospel of mercy at the center, repeatedly emphasizing that God never tires of forgiveness.
DEROSE: And Re said Francis led a church capable of bending down to every person and healing their wounds.
SIMON: And, Jason, I understand that Pope Francis chose that Gospel passage himself for his funeral. What do you think that might tell us about how he saw his role?
DEROSE: Scott, the idea of a shepherd was a theme throughout his ministry, from the time he was a seminarian in Argentina, through being a local bishop in Buenos Aires and all the way up to being pope. The idea that he was with his flock in the field, caring for them, tending to their needs, whether they were poor or refugees displaced by war or famine. But, you know, Scott, it could also be that Francis chose that passage as one final, not-so-subtle admonition to the Cardinals here today, who'll be electing the next pope. This is what a leader is, he might have been saying. You feed your flock. You care for the people because it's what Jesus told his disciples to do.
SIMON: And, of course, the burial followed the funeral mass, but the pope is not buried at the Vatican, was he?
DEROSE: Francis' body was taken out of Vatican City, over the Tiber River to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. By choosing that site, he'll be the first pope in several centuries to be buried outside the Vatican - another and final break with tradition for a pope who was informed by tradition and guided by tradition and nurtured by tradition, but not certainly constrained by it. At Saint Mary Major, Francis' body was welcomed by the very people he spent his ministry focused on, specifically homeless people, refugees, transgender people, victims of violence.
SIMON: Jason, what unfinished business did Francis leave for the church?
DEROSE: Well, certainly, dealing in a definitive way with clergy sexual abuse - that's unfinished. Time and again, he had trouble making progress in this area - something by his own admission - because he failed to see the magnitude of the problem, other times because of church bureaucracy. And there was real hope in recent years among many that the Catholic Church would allow women to serve as deacons in the church, but that did not happen under Francis. Now, that said, many conservative conservative Catholics would argue the focus on these issues - abuse and the role of women - are ultimately divisive and distracting.
SIMON: Jason, you covered Francis during this 12-year papacy. What do you think you might remember most about it?
DEROSE: Well, I think about the issues Francis clearly cared about - refugees, migrants, the poor - those who have the least power in society. Those were the people Jesus cares about in the Gospels. And I think Francis spent his life teaching that Christians are best demonstrate their love for God by serving their neighbors the way Jesus did. It really, I think, Scott, comes back to the Gospel reading Francis chose for today - Jesus saying, feed my flock.
SIMON: NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose, just outside St. Peter's Square. Jason, thank you so much.
DEROSE: You're welcome.
SIMON: And we'll have more on the legacy of Pope Francis elsewhere on the program. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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