Up First from NPR - Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade

Episode Date: April 26, 2025

We report live from St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, where Pope Francis's funeral is taking place. Plus, the U.N.'s food agency says it is running out of food to distribute to people in Gaza two months into an Israeli blockade.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Mourners gathered today for Pope Francis' funeral in Vatican City. The pot have passed away on Monday, the age of 88. I'm Scott Simon in Washington, D.C. And I'm Lauren Frayer at St. Peter's Square in Rome. And this is Up First from NPR News. I'm live on the edge of St. Peter's Square in front of the Vatican, where large crowds have been paying their respects to Pope Francis. We'll have more on the ceremony and how it reflects on Pope Francis' legacy.

Plus, the UN's food agency says it has delivered the last of its food supplies in Gaza, which remains under Israeli blockade. So please stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend. On the next Thru Line from NPR. For the presidency, I'm indebted to Almighty God. I'm in charge of the country and I need to serve all the American people and not just the political machine.

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We don't go around the world, we're already there. Listen to the State of the World podcast from NPR. An estimated 200,000 people attended the funeral mass for Pope Francis today. Of course that includes heads of state from all over the world and Lauren you're there in St. Peter's Square along with our colleagues Sylvia Poggioli and Ruth Sherlock. Lauren, let's start with you. Tell us please what you're seeing. Scott, we've just stepped into a Renaissance painting.

I'm looking up at the dome of St. Peter's Basilica etched across these deep blue skies and puffs of white clouds rolling past. This square in front of the Basilica swelled with people today and with colours. Cardinals in bright red, nuns in black and white, monks in brown robes. The day began with bells tolling across this city and at the Basilica here, and then a homage of global leaders, royals, military men and women. The cobblestone streets of Rome have been lined with people in some places, 20 people deep, applauding as the Pope Mobile carried Francis out of the Vatican for the last time, past Roman ruins, past the Colosseum, to his final resting place in an immigrant neighborhood.

And Scott, one of the things that strikes me, while these were very traditional Catholic rites, this has been a very interfaith commemoration. There have been Muslim clerics here. I saw a person in a Native American feather headdress. European Royals with medals pinned on their coats next to Latin American nuns, next to African leaders in military dress. A very global send off for Pope Francis. And Silvia Paggiole, you covered Pope Francis on so many papal trips around the world. What signs did you see of his global legacy there today? Oh, there was huge evidence of his global outreach here.

There were, as Lauren said, representatives of many of the world's religions. And the mass was sprinkled with readings in many languages, not just Latin, Italian and English, but also Arabic, Polish and Chinese. Pope Francis made many foreign trips. I went on several to Cuba, the US, several African countries, and the Middle East. And in his homily, the Dean of the College of Cardinals,

Giovanni Battistare, mentioned in particular the one in 2021 to Iraq, which has some of the world's oldest Christian communities, and where the Cardinal said Pope Francis defied every risk, providing what he called a balm on the open wounds of the Iraqi people who had suffered so much from the inhuman actions of ISIS. It was also on that trip that Francis visited the Shiite Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf, part of his outreach to the world of Islam. And our colleague NPR's Ruth Sherlock

has been wading through the crowds of faithful all day today. Ruth, what are people telling you out there? Well, Lauren, there are people who traveled all night to be at this funeral. There was, for example, Antonella Marcuzzi who took a bus from Austria to arrive at dawn in Rome. This means so much to her and you can hear the emotion in her voice.

It's important arrive at Rome for Papa Francisco. She's crying and you know, she talks about how much Pope Francis meant like you mentioned for bringing different faiths together. And you have stories like this all over the square. I spoke with Bishop Thomas Masters who was in the crowd dressed in his bright purple bishop robes and I asked him why he chose to make this long trip from Florida to be

here. I honor Pope Francis in so many different ways. Human rights, he was there. Justice, he was there. Fighting for the underdog, if I can use that expression, the people, the poor, the impoverished, he was there. And he did not use this position to be above and beyond others. the Pope used this position to be

with the common people. St. Peter's Square is surrounded by these semi circles of colonnades with statues of Catholic saints all around and that threw open to this bright blue sky and many people in the crowd told me they felt as though Pope Francis might be looking down on this event from above. Sylvia, a solemn religious day of course, but politics don't take the day off. President Trump was there, so was Ukraine's President Zelensky and former President Biden. How did all that work? Well, the crowd watching the ceremony on big video screens in the square made their opinion

known clearly. They were silent when President Trump and the First Lady arrived and broke out into loud applause when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared. The White House confirmed Trump and Zelensky met briefly before the ceremony and we've seen a photo of the two of them seated in chairs inside St. Peter's Basilica arms on knees huddling deep in conversation. The seating order of all the other big many delegations was very interesting. It was by name of nation in the alphabetical order of French, the language of diplomacy.

The U.S. has the letter E for itasuni. So President Trump sat between the representatives of Estonia and Finland. There was also a strict dress code. Many men wore black ties. Many women had the recommended long black dress, heads covered by a black veil or lace mantilla. One of the most striking moments was during the homily. With President Trump sitting nearby, Cardinal Rea recalled a famous quote of Francis,

Bill Bridges, not walls, one of the Pope's strongest criticisms of the U. strongest criticisms of the US president's policy of deporting migrants. Ruth, you followed Pope Francis's funeral cortege across Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major where he's now been laid to rest. What's the scene there? Well of course there were crowds of people outside this church that were so dear to Francis. You know this basilica is home to an icon, a painting of Mother Mary and Baby Jesus

that Francis would pray to before and after every trip out of Rome. And one of the priorities of his papacy was Francis' care for the poor and the disadvantaged. And he was known, for example, to slip out of the Vatican to visit homeless shelters nearby there. And this was also the final focus of this funeral too.

A group of people from disadvantaged backgrounds were invited to be by the entrance of St Mary Major. People without homes, migrants, prisoners, victims of war. It was a fitting end that these people should be the final people to say goodbye to this Pope. And Sylvia Paggiole, you covered this entire papacy from the moment that Pope Francis first stepped out onto the steps to greet the people to today. What are your thoughts? Well, I'm sitting here looking at this grand Baroque square and I think it's very much this architecture is a representation of the temporal power of the Catholic Church. One of the characteristics is trompe d'oeil, optical illusion. I think that's a metaphor

that helps us understand the Vatican's modus operandi, shifting perspectives, always using the conditional. That's the opposite of how Francis thought and acted. He was always very direct and assertive. It'll be interesting to see if his straightforward style will change the Vatican's centuries-old secrecy and vagueness. We'll have a better idea next week or maybe in ten days or so when we see who the Cardinals pick as Francis' successor in the upcoming Conclave. And Per Silvia Poggioli with Sherlock and Lauren Frayer, thank you all. Bye Scott. Thank you Scott.

Thanks so much. It's been eight weeks since Israel's blockade cut off aid to Gaza. That includes medical supplies and food. Israel says the blockade and bombardment are intended to compel Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal and return the remaining hostages. Now the UN's food agency says that it has run out of supplies to distribute in Gaza, and this is deep in the humanitarian crisis that's faced by roughly two million Palestinians who are there. And Piers Hadil al-Shalchi joins us.

Thank you for being with us. Good morning, Scott. No aid since the beginning of March. What's the current situation like? Right. So the UN's World Food Program announced yesterday that it has run out of food stocks, that it supplies to charity kitchens

that make meals for Palestinians. You know, about half of Gaza's population depends on these kitchens. Israel says it's blocked the aid because it wants Hamas to hand over more hostages, and it accuses Hamas of stealing the aid. But the UN says that very little is actually diverted and humanitarian groups are calling the blockade a starvation tactic and potentially a war crime. And Adil, what are you able to hear from Palestinians in Gaza? What are they eating?

Yeah. So NPR's producer in Gaza, Enes Baba, went to one of these charity kitchens in central Gaza and spoke to Nadir Qatun. He was in line to get that one plate of rice to feed his family of seven. He says the situation is catastrophic. There's no food, clean water, and life is just impossible. You know, Enes himself has also told us he's been struggling to find food and the cash to buy it because, you know, some other aid groups still have food stocks and there is still some food in the markets but they're all quickly diminishing because no new goods are

coming into Gaza and the UN says the price of food in those markets has soared by as much as 1,400 percent. Israel is trying to use aid to pressure Hamas into a new deal and return the hostages. Any progress on that? I mean short answer is not really. You know what we do know is that this week Israel said the head of Mossad met with Qatari officials in Doha and Hamas said it sent a delegation to Cairo and some talks with Egyptian mediators started today with them. But this is basically where we've been at for the past couple of months. You know Hamas is still insisting on a full end to the war before releasing any more hostages and Israel says it wants a short-term Ceasefire that would see some more of the hostages released and they said that they just won't stop until Hamas is completely defeated

And we know that the Trump administration has made it very clear that it backs Israel And this week a far-right Israeli cabinet member got a very warm reception here in the U.S. Tell us about his visit. That's right. So ultra-nationalist security minister Itamar Ben-Gavir was in the U.S. this week. You know, during the Biden administration, ultra-nationalist politicians like Ben-Gavir were persona non grata for things like their extremist racist views on Arabs. But while Ben-Gabir didn't meet with President Trump this week, he did attend an event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort. He said he met with senior Republican officials there. He didn't name them, though.

And after the meeting, he said he has support for his position on Gaza, which includes bombing food aid depots there as a means to pressure Hamas to return the hostages. But it wasn't all warm. Antigua's a war protesters threw bottles at him and apparently they didn't miss when he was leaving an event hosted by a Jewish group at Yale University. And Piercedillo Schalchi in Tel Aviv, thanks so much for being with us. You're very welcome. [♪ Music playing. Fade out. Fade in. Fade out. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in. Fade in Welcome. And that's up first for Saturday, April 26th, 2025.

I'm Lauren Freyer. And I'm Scott Seim. Andrew Craig produced today's episode with help from Gabe O'Connor, Fatima El-Kassab and Sarah Ventry. Deepar Vaz is our editor and she had help from Martha Ann Overland, Tara Neal and Carrie Conn. Michael Radcliffe is our director with support from technical director Andy Huther and engineers David Greenberg, Zach Coleman and Arthur Halliday-Lorente. Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes.

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