World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay will attend the funeral of Pope Francis on 26 April in Rome.
The funeral will take place in St Peter’s Square outside the basilica, and will be open to the public. There will be a final commendation and valediction, before the coffin is taken inside St Peter’s Basilica for the remainder of the service.
Bedford-Strohm said: “Together with the entire Roman Catholic Church, we at the World Council of Churches mourn the loss of an extraordinary shepherd of the people of God.”
Pillay noted that Pope Francis’s passing is being mourned around the world, not least among his many allies and admirers in the ecumenical movement and in the worldwide fellowship of the WCC. “His papacy has been a great gift to the ecumenical movement, and he has been a dedicated collaborator in our efforts toward Christian unity and reconciliation and a prophetic voice for peace, the environment, and justice everywhere,” said Pillay.
Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC
