Sundaymail Editor
Mukudzei Chingwere at the VATICAN CITY, Italy
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has arrived at the iconic and sacred St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the official commencement of Pope Francis’s burial rites.
Pope Francis succumbed to a stroke and irreversible cardiovascular collapse on Easter Monday at the age of 88, plunging the Christian movement into mourning.
Ahead of the burial, VP Chiwenga has had a tete-á-tete with former United States President Joe Biden, in what could be a gigantic diplomatic step towards normalising relations between Harare and Washington.
President Mnangagwa is leading from the front in that regard and just last month removed tariffs on all US imports as part of a broader and elaborate strategy to normalise relations.
Official activities here began as early as 5.30am with the opening of St Peters’ Square to the public.
At 10am, Cardinal Giovanni Battista – Dean of the College of Cardinals – presided over the funeral mass.
At 1pm, Pope Francis’ body will make its way into St Peters Basilica.
In strict adherence to the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (Rite of Burial for Roman Pontiffs), the body will then be taken to Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.
At the burial site, the body will be received by a group of ordinary and common people who will have a chance to see off the Pope.
More to follow…
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