President Murmu Pays Tribute to Pope Francis at Vatican City

Photo: Instagram/@presidentofindia

On Friday, President Droupadi Murmu visited the Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City to pay her respects to Pope Francis, who recently passed away. She was accompanied by Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and George Kurian during her visit.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, shared the news on social media, saying that President Murmu visited the Basilica to honor the late Pope. He also posted pictures of the visit.

President Murmu arrived in Rome earlier on Friday and is set to attend Pope Francis’ funeral mass, which is scheduled for Saturday. The funeral will be attended by many world leaders and dignitaries. Besides Rijiju and Kurian, the Indian delegation also included Joshua D’Souza, the Deputy Speaker of the Goa Assembly.

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Pope Francis passed away on April 21 at the age of 88. He died at his home in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta. Pope Francis was the first Latin American pope to lead the Catholic Church. He became pope in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down.

In India, the government declared three days of state mourning in memory of Pope Francis. The mourning began on April 22 and continued on April 23. On the day of the funeral, Saturday, there will be one more day of mourning. The Indian National Flag will be flown at half-mast on all government buildings, and there will be no official entertainment across the country.

Soon after the funeral, a group of cardinals will meet to choose a new pope to take over the leadership of the Catholic Church.