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About 150,000 people say goodbye to the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica before the funeral

About 150,000 people have passed before Pope Francis’ coffin in the Vatican basilica to say goodbye, in the last three days and until noon this Friday, the eve of his funeral.

The spokesman for the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, confirmed the figure until 12.00 local hours (10.00 GMT).

The passage of the faithful has remained constant in the last few hours, after last night the basilica remained open until 2.30 am (0.30 GMT) and reopened at 5.40 (3.40 GMT).

The Holy See had to change the initial plans of closing the tempo at night so that the thousands of faithful who arrived from all over the world could say goodbye to the pontiff.

The burning chapel of Francis will remain open until 7:00 p.m. local time (17.00 GMT) this afternoon, and then proceed to the ceremony of closing the coffin before its solemn funeral, on Saturday morning.

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The Italian Civil Protection has launched an alert on all mobile phones in Rome to warn that the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square will be closed this afternoon to prepare for the funeral.

The warning, also audible, appeared on mobile phones through the IT-alert system, used in emergencies.

“Civil Protection Department – Farewell to Pope Francis. Closing time of St. Peter’s Square from 5:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m.) on April 25. For tours and schedules of the funeral www.protezionecivile.it«, read the message.

The notice could be read on the telephone screens in Italian, English, French and Spanish due to the high number of tourists and faithful who are in the Italian capital and, above all, in the vicinity of the Vatican.

The Italian authorities estimate that around 200,000 faithful will attend the funeral by the pontiff on Saturday, after which the coffin will be transferred in a funeral procession to the basilica of Santa María la Mayor, where Francis expressed his desire to be buried.

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A total of 149 cardinals have already arrived in Rome of the total of 252 that make up the cardinal college, although only 133 will enter the conclave to choose a successor for being under 80 years old, a mandatory rule.

The cardinals who will participate in the funeral tomorrow will visit the tomb of the Argentine pope on Sunday.

The funerals also mark the beginning of the ‘Novendial’, the period of nine days of mourning in the Vatican for the death of the pontiff.

As for the conclave, Vatican legislation establishes that it must begin within a maximum period of 20 days after the death of the pope, which occurred on April 21.

That is why the cardinals are expected to be locked up in the Sistine Chapel between May 5, when mourning ends, and the 10th, when the period of 20 days without a pope is fulfilled.

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The Sistine Chapel has announced its closure from April 28 to prepare for the conclave.

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International

Cardinals seek a “unifier” as they prepare for conclave to elect new pope

Several cardinals who will participate in the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor said they are approaching the mission with “apprehension,” “responsibility,” and “hope,” while also beginning to outline the profile of the next pope: a “unifier.”

The 12-year pontificate of the first Latin American pope was marked by reforms and a simple style, which earned him strong opposition from the Church’s most conservative sectors, with his predecessor Benedict XVI as a symbol of that resistance.
“The task before us these days is greater than us, and yet it is a duty we must fulfill,” summarized French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline during a mass in Rome on Thursday evening.

A few meters away, Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich admitted to journalists that he approaches the conclave “with a certain apprehension,” but also with “great hope.”

“We feel very small. We must make decisions for the entire Church, so please pray for us,” added the Jesuit cardinal, who was a close advisor to the Argentine pontiff.
He estimated that the conclave would “probably” begin on May 5 or 6, after the nine-day mourning period at the Vatican known as the Novendiales.

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International

Trump and Zelensky hold “very productive” meeting in Rome during Pope’s funeral

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky held a “very productive” meeting, according to the White House, this Saturday in Rome on the sidelines of Pope Francis’ funeral.
No specific details about their conversation were disclosed, but the White House promised to release more information later. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, described the 15-minute discussion at St. Peter’s Basilica as “constructive.”

This was the first meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents since their heated exchange in Washington on February 28, when Trump and his Vice President JD Vance verbally confronted Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Dozens of heads of state, government leaders, and senior officials gathered in Rome on Saturday for Pope Francis’ funeral, creating opportunities for multiple diplomatic meetings.

The Ukrainian presidency stated that Trump and Zelensky “agreed to continue” their talks later Saturday in the Italian capital and shared photos of both leaders seated face-to-face, also engaging in conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The U.S. president said on Friday that a deal between Ukraine and Russia is “very close,” without providing details, following discussions between his envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin in Moscow about the possibility of launching “direct negotiations” between the two sides.

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International

A magnitude 6 earthquake shakes the province of Esmeraldas in Ecuador, bordering Colombia

A magnitude 6 earthquake was recorded this Friday in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, bordering Colombia, causing damage to several infrastructures and leaving, so far, 20 people injured.

According to the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School, the earthquake occurred at 06:44 local time (11:44 GMT) at 1.03 degrees south latitude and 79.69 degrees west longitude.

According to the source, the tremor occurred at a depth of 30 kilometers and 9.31 kilometers from Esmeraldas, capital of the homonymous province.

According to the National Secretariat of Risk Management (SNGR), the affected people had head injuries and bruises.

While the SNGR continues with the verification of affectations, it indicated that 80% of the electricity service and 80% of the telecommunications that were affected, are gradually restored.

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Among the affected public buildings are the ECU 911 due to a fall of masonry; the Vargas Torres University, which has cracks; the Los Militares building where the front collapsed and the Prefecture building, among others.

The SNGR reported that the earthquake was felt with strong intensity in seven municipalities of the province of Esmeraldas and moderately in the provinces of Guayas and Manabí, while mildly in Carchi, Cotopaxi, Imbabura, Los Ríos, Pichincha, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Tungurahua.

About twenty minutes after the earthquake in Esmeraldas, one of magnitude 4.1 was reported in the coastal province of Guayas, located in the southeast of the country, without damage or victims having been reported so far.

The President of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, ordered the displacement of all his ministers to Esmeraldas, in order to coordinate actions after the magnitude 6 earthquake recorded this Friday.

“I have arranged for the immediate deployment of all ministers in the province of Esmeraldas to coordinate the installation of shelters, delivery of humanitarian aid kits and assistance in everything our people need,” Noboa wrote on his social network account X.

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The province of Esmeraldas was one of the most affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake recorded on April 16, 2016, which left more than 670 dead, thousands affected, as well as millions of material losses.

This earthquake also hit the province of Manabí, located, like Esmeraldas, on the coast of the Andean country, but also affected other areas and was felt strongly, even in the Ecuadorian capital.

Ecuador is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire or Belt, which concentrates some of the most important subduction areas (sinking of tectonic plates) in the world and is the scene of strong seismic activity.

In addition to Ecuador, the Horseshoe-shaped Belt comprises a large number of countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

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