LWF President Henrik Stubkjær with Pope Francis at a private audience in June 2024. Photo: Vatican Media.
Ecumenical delegations gather alongside heads of state and pilgrims from countries around the world
(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President, Bishop Henrik Stubkjær, and Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, Prof. Dr Dirk Lange, will join heads of state, delegations of religious leaders and pilgrims from around the globe for the funeral of Pope Francis on the morning of Saturday 26 April.
An estimated 200,000 people are expected to fill St Peter’s Square and surrounding streets for the funeral Mass, before the coffin is driven through the city center to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the oldest church in Rome dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. Pope Francis will be the first Roman Catholic leader in over 350 years to be buried in the fourth century church containing an ancient Byzantine icon to which the pope had a particular devotion, stopping to pray there on the way to and from each papal journey.
Since the death of the pope on Easter Monday morning, pilgrims have been arriving in Rome, many of them queueing for hours to pay their last respects by filing past the open coffin in St Peter’s Basilica. People of all faiths and none have been paying tribute to the man whom President Stubkjær described as “a strong ecclesiastical leader and a spiritual beacon in a world of great change.”
Changes and opportunities
The LWF President noted how Cardinal Bergoglio, following his election to the pontificate in 2013, chose the name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, “signaling his strong concern for the world’s poor and marginalized.” He also recalled the pope’s focus on justice and human dignity, as well as “our common responsibility” to protect God’s creation, spelt out clearly in his 2015 letter on the climate crisis and related environmental issues.
Remembering a first encounter with Pope Francis, four years ago, Stubkjær said they talked about “the many changes happening in the world today – changes that can seem both violent and frightening.” He recalled how the pope paused and said: “But remember that it is times of change that the Holy Spirit has the greatest opportunity to remodel,” reflecting a message of Christian hope in the midst of change and uncertainty.
Today we give thanks for Pope Francis’ strong Christian witness.
LWF President Bishop Henrik Stubkjær
President Stubkjær and Professor Lange will be attending the funeral alongside many other ecumenical delegations from churches and global Christian communions, giving thanks for the pope’s commitment to unity and shared mission. Lange recalled the Joint Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation at which Pope Francis presided alongside LWF leaders in the Swedish cities of Lund and Malmö, reminding all present to pay attention to “the primordial intuition of God’s people who naturally yearn to be one.”
Conveying condolences to all members of the Roman Catholic Church on behalf of the global Lutheran communion, President Stubkjær said: “Today we give thanks for Pope Francis’ strong Christian witness and we pray that he now rests in God’s loving embrace.”
Obituary: LWF gives thanks for life and work of Pope Francis
