Rome, 24 April (askanews) – More than 170 delegations are expected for the funeral of Pope Francis, on Saturday 26 April (at 20 pm) in front of St. Peter's Basilica: in the front row, obviously, heads of state and government, sovereigns and spiritual leaders. Friends and so-called "enemies", such as the president of Argentina Javier Milei, who in the past has not spared criticism, including insults, towards Francis.
But all eyes remain on Donald Trump, who is leaving on Friday and plans to be away for less than 24 hours, making a decisive meeting on Ukraine or the trade war unlikely on the sidelines of the Pope's funeral.
As is known, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be there, but after his refusal to accept American pressure to accept a plan that Kiev considered more of a declaration of surrender, the air between the two is not good.
And above all, there will be the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would like to see formally in conversation with the American president: here too, however, it is unlikely that anything resembling a real summit will be set up.
Also present will be French President Emmanuel Macron and the Spanish royals Felipe VI and Letizia. For Germany, both President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz and for Great Britain, Prince William and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Then the heads of state of Portugal, Switzerland, the leaders of several Balkan countries, Polish President Andrzej Duda. There will also be Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
And delegations of all religious confessions will converge in Rome, from the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmad al Tayyebb, who was an important interlocutor of the Pope in the Muslim world, to a delegation of the Jewish community and the Chief Rabbi of Rome Riccardo di Segni. From Moscow, for the Orthodox Patriarchate, comes Metropolitan Antonij.
The “great” absentees remain President Vladimir Putin, who has decided to send Culture Minister Olga Ljubimova, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made headlines in recent days for not offering his condolences to the Pope.
Notizie.it editorial team