VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A group of 40 people, including migrants, the incarcerated, homeless people and transgender people, will greet the late Pope Francis with white roses on the steps of the Basilica of St. Mary Major after his funeral on Saturday (April 26), the Vatican announced.
“The gesture of the white rose is a way to say ‘welcome home’ because he will go to the house of the father,” said Bishop Benoni Ambarus, secretary of the commission for migrations of the Italian Episcopal Conference and delegate for charitable initiatives, speaking to Vatican media outlets on Thursday (April 24). “It’s a rose to say thank you for what you have done for us. … They will be children saying farewell to their father.”
Pope Francis spent his life advocating for the welcoming, promotion, accompaniment and integration of marginalized groups, especially the poor, and was the first pope to publicly meet with members of the LGBTQ+ community. During his last Easter message, the Urbi et Orbi Easter blessing on April 20, Francis condemned “how much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants!
“I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are …