<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The King and Queen attended Pope Francis' funeral Mass this Saturday at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, accompanied by the First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero; the Second Vice President of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz; the Minister of the Presidency, Parliamentary Relations, and Democratic Memory, Félix Bolaños; and the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feojóo.</strong></h4> Upon their arrival at Ciampino Airport, King Felipe and Queen Letizia were received by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic, Riccardo Guariglia; the Spanish Ambassador to Italy, Miguel Ángel Fernández-Palacios; and the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See, María Isabel Celaá, among other authorities. They then proceeded to St. Peter's Basilica, where they were awaited by the Holy See's Chief of Protocol, Javier Domingo Fernández, and the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin. The Funeral Ceremony of Pope Francis was celebrated according to the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis. The funeral liturgy was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals. During his homily, Cardinal Re reviewed the decisive moments in the late Pope's life: his election as pontiff on March 13, 2013, his time in the Society of Jesus, and his more than two decades of pastoral service in Buenos Aires. He also highlighted the choice of his name, Francis, as a "programmatic and stylistic" decision, inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, which would mark the course of his pontificate. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Ultima Commendatio and the Valedictio took place. The Pope's coffin was then transferred to St. Peter's Basilica and from there to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial. Pope Francis, who began his pontificate on March 13, 2013, died this Monday, April 21, at the age of 88, in Rome. The most notable absence from the Spanish delegation was that of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was the only leader of any of the major EU countries not to attend the Pope's funeral. The reasons for his absence have not been disclosed. In the press conference following the last Council of Ministers, Sánchez declared that Pope Francis was "a friend of Spain and a moral and spiritual role model for millions of people, a leader who advocated for the fight against poverty, for a humanist view of the phenomenon of migration, for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and against intolerance when it was most needed." In 2005, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, the then Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and the then leader of the People's Party (PP), Mariano Rajoy, attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
