Those who are 'last' are the last to say goodbye to Francis, Vatican spokesman writes (Vatican News)

On the eve of the papal funeral, a leading Vatican spokesman penned an editorial, “Those who are ‘last’ will be the last to say goodbye.”

“The ‘last’ will be the last to welcome him, as they wait on the threshold of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where Pope Francis will be buried under the maternal gaze of the icon of the Salus Populi Romani,” said Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication.

“The final stretch of the earthly path of the Bishop of Rome, who came almost from the ‘ends of the earth,’ will be crowned not by the powerful but by those poor, migrants, homeless, and marginalized, in short, those who have been the focus of so many pages of his magisterium and who are at the center of every page of the Gospel,” he continued.

Tornielli concluded:

Far from ideological readings, the Church has no political interests to defend when it calls for overcoming what Pope Francis called “the globalization of indifference.” Moved only by the words of the Gospel, sustained by the tradition of the Fathers of the Church, the late Pope invited us to turn our gaze to those who are “last,” those favored by Jesus—those “last ones” who will accompany him on Saturday with their embrace on the final stage of his journey.