The world’s attention is focused on Rome this weekend. The Pope’s funeral on Saturday morning will be attended by Princes, Presidents and Prime Ministers. Sir Keir Starmer and the Prince of Wales will be joined by US President Trump, the French President as well as dozens of other world leaders.
But it’s not the pomp of power that made the biggest impression on me when as a journalist for the BBC I covered the death of Pope John Paul the Second and the election of his successor twenty years ago.
Over the decades I’ve attended many and varied gatherings of the rich and powerful. Yet never have I been so affected by the stories of those of faith and no faith drawn to Rome by the events taking place there.
The glory and splendour of the Vatican is dazzling, the work of such Renaissance masters as Bernini and Michelangelo. But it was the extraordinary diversity and range of humanity of those gathered in St Peter’s Square that made the biggest impression.
Crossing the Tiber at three o clock in the morning on the day of the Pope’s funeral I was confronted by the scene of tens of thousands of young people drawn from all four corners of the earth, sleeping in the streets as far as the eye could see.
When I interviewed them to ask why they had journeyed thousands of miles from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia the answers I got emphasised the values of respect, the spirit of service and simple human connection.
Pope Francis was a leader with a simple, informal style, egalitarian not hierarchical. His first words as pope were, “I am a sinner.” He will be buried in a wooden coffin in a simple tomb marked Franciscus in his beloved basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore near Rome’s railway station.
His first visit as Pope outside Rome was to meet African refugees on the island of Lampedusa. He was also determined to pursue a radical agenda which highlighted climate change and our common need to care for the planet.
This Pope never forgot the values of compassion and mercy and was careful to apologise for mistakes of judgement by himself or by the Church. In my view, the 266th Bishop of Rome was the most approachable and humble leader of our times.
He listened before he spoke and was always unafraid of change. His legacy shows us that power and influence depends on our own capacity to move and inspire others.