Vatican

In the last years of his papacy, the world saw the more serious, concerned and suffering face of Pope Francis. But with one group he was always beaming, always smiling and always cheerful: the poor.

Given the late Pope Francis’ care and concern for the poor, a representative group of them has been formally invited to welcome his casket to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.

Pope Francis must be remembered for his deep Marian piety. In speaking to a group of young people in Rome on June 29, 2014 — the Solemnity of St. Peter and Paul — he famously said: “A Christian without the Madonna is an orphan.”

Asserting that the Catholic Church needed the gifts and experiences of women, Pope Francis appointed several women to top positions in the Roman Curia, including the first female prefect of a major dicastery, and worked to ensure their contributions were recognized in parishes and dioceses around the world.