NEW YORK (WABC) -- World dignitaries and Catholic faithful attended Pope Francis' funeral in St. Peter's Square on Saturday.
Despite the presence of presidents and princes, prisoners and migrants ushered him into the basilica where he will be buried, reflecting his priorities as pope, as hundreds of thousands have flocked to the funeral Mass.
U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, the U.N. chief and European Union leaders, as well as Prince William and the Spanish royal family, were in attendance.
Francis is breaking with recent tradition to be buried in the St. Mary Major Basilica in a simple underground tomb with just his name: Franciscus.
Argentinian-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the Catholic Church's 266th pope and the first ever from Latin America. He took the name Francis after the well-known St. Francis of Assisi, who ministered to the poor.
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke, setting off mourning in the Catholic world and days of ritual at the Vatican.
Eyewitness News anchor Mike Marza has been in Rome since the passing of Pope Francis. He covered the funeral mass at St. Peter's Square and the procession from outside the basilica across town, where he will be buried.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump met with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Saturday morning.
The cardinal will be part of the conclave that will soon pick the next pontiff after Pope Francis.
The chapel next to where Francis was being buried is home to a Byzantine-style icon of the Madonna, the Salus Populi Romani.
Francis was particularly devoted, and reportedly would pray before the icon before and after each of his foreign trips during his 12 years as pope.
KABC's David Ono shares the crowd's reaction to seeing the Popemobile carrying Pope Francis' casket as it makes its way from St. Peter's Basilica to its final resting place of Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
"I'm watching people be emotional and wipe their eyes ... You know, it is that very human thing. You want to celebrate his life but you mourn his loss."
