'The People's Pope'
Pope Francis, 266th Pontiff and First From Latin America, to Be Buried Saturday, Vatican Says
The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the Mass, which will be concelebrated by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe. The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the Ultima commendatio and the Valedictio, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, or nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of Pope Francis' soul. The late Pope's body will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for entombment. Earlier, on Wednesday, the coffin containing the Pope’s body will be carried from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica, so that the faithful may pay their respects. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of translation on April 23, which will begin at 9:00 AM with a moment of prayer. The procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs, according to the Holy See Press Office. The procession will then exit through the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door. At the Altar of the Confession, the Cardinal Camerlengo will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, at the conclusion of which the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will commence - Vatican News
Pope Francis' successor won't be an American, Cardinal Blase Cupich says. “We’re talking about a country that has political, economic, military power in the world, and so I think it’s, it’s a stretch to say that it’s prudent to go ahead and have someone who is from that country,” Cupich said. Cupich is one of three influential Roman Catholic bishops with Chicago ties, appointed by a newly elected Pope Francis to lead Chicago’s faithful in 2014 and elevated to the role of cardinal, a “prince of the church,” two years later. Cupich said Monday that the legacy of Francis, the church’s first South American pope, can be encapsulated in one word: mercy. - Chicago Sun Times
More world leaders are confirming their plans to attend the Pope's funeral on Saturday, which is set to take place on the steps in front of St Peter's Basilica. they include: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva'; US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron; Javier Milei, the president of Argentina; British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska are planning to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, the president’s office has confirmed. Their decision to travel to the Vatican for Saturday’s funeral highlights the global significance of the occasion and the late Pope’s emphasis on moral leadership during a time of war and humanitarian crises. Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and expressed deep concern for the suffering of civilians. However, some of his remarks about the war in Ukraine were met with criticism. Many in Ukraine reproached the late Pope for not speaking clearly enough about Russia as the aggressor, contributing to tensions between Kyiv and the Vatican in recent years. That said, the decision by President Zelensky and the First Lady to attend the funeral is a gesture of respect for Francis’s broader humanitarian message and his consistent advocacy for an end to violence. It also reflects Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to engage with global moral and spiritual leaders - BBC
Investors are fearful of a deep hit to asset prices if U.S. President Donald Trump attempts to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, undermining confidence in the central bank's ability to fight inflation and act independently. That could hurt the already bruised dollar, under-pressure equities and send bond yields higher, market participants said. The Fed's credibility as the world's most powerful central bank relies on its historic independence. Trump has criticized the Fed for not cutting interest rates quickly enough and if any subsequent chair were to be less inclined to raise rates when needed or to push for faster rate cuts, it could spur inflation. Were Powell to be removed, markets would almost certainly interpret it as an inflationary signal, potentially driving long-term interest rates higher and undermining the U.S. dollar's role as the world’s reserve currency," said Elliot Dornbusch, chief investment officer at CV Advisors. Following Powell's ousting, there would be "violent reactions in markets," according to Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. "Monetary policy is not a political tool," he added. Some of the impact has already been seen in asset prices, with the dollar sliding to a three-year low on Monday, stocks selling off with the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab now roughly 16% below its February peak and benchmark U.S. Treasury yields up. Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday. Removing Powell could exacerbate upward pressure on the so-called term premium - a measure of the compensation investors demand for the risk of holding long-dated bonds. Market inflation expectations, as measured by 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities and 10-year Treasuries, remained relatively stable on Monday. Trump said in a social media post on Thursday that the Fed chair's termination "cannot come fast enough," although his term ends in May 2026. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett on Friday said Trump and his team were continuing to study if they could fire Powell, while Trump on Monday said the economy could slow down unless rates were lowered immediately. - Reuters
The race to form Canada’s next government is now tighter than ever as the federal election campaign enters its final week, a new poll suggests. The latest Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found the Liberals are still in the lead, but are now just three points ahead of the Conservatives, who continue to gain momentum in the home stretch. The results of the poll, conducted after last week’s televised leaders’ debates, show 41 per cent of surveyed Canadians would vote for the Liberals, down one point from last week, while 38 per cent said they would choose the Conservatives, who gained two points. The New Democrats earned 12 per cent support, up one point from last week, while the Bloc Quebecois went down one point to five per cent nationally, or 25 per cent support in Quebec. The Green Party and the People’s Party of Canada each earned two per cent support. The three-point gap between the two leading parties is within the poll’s 3.8 per cent margin of error, and the smallest since the campaign began last month. Although just over half of voters surveyed by Ipsos said they would prefer a majority government, versus 20 per cent who want a minority, “a tightening race reduces the odds of a majority-government outcome,” the pollster said - Global News
In an era of tariffs, transatlantic ructions and wanton detentions by immigration officers, however, the US under President Trump appears to be abruptly losing its appeal as a destination for large numbers of Europeans. This was supposed to be another bumper year for American tourism with an expected 77 million foreign visitors, the highest level since the start of the pandemic. Instead, 2025 is beginning to look like an annus horribilis. Last month the number of overseas travellers entering the country was 12 per cent lower than it had been a year earlier, according to data from the US International Trade Administration. Arrivals from western Europe, which has traditionally accounted for the lion’s share of tourism, were down by 17 per cent over the same period. The number of Germans travelling to the US fell by 29 per cent, while visits from Britain declined by 14 per cent. Some countries recorded even sharper drops, such as 35 per cent for tourists from Iceland and 43 per cent for those from Luxembourg Visits from France slipped 8 per cent year-on-year but the number of tour bookings is down by between 20-25 per cent since the beginning of Trump’s second term, according to Jean-François Rial, chief executive of the Voyageurs du Monde travel agency and a representative of the national association of tour operators. “It’s colossal. I’ve never seen this before. We wondered if this would happen the first time Trump was elected, but overall there was little change. Now, there’s a slump and it could get worse,” Rial said “There is no doubt that this is because of the political context and Trump’s actions. It’s not unusual for people to cancel a trip because of security issues, but for politics, it’s rare. Holidaymakers are now going to Canada or Mexico instead.” - Telegraph
The owner of new London skyscraper 50 Fenchurch Street has been sued by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund over claims the tower will obstruct light. Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, which owns the freehold to the Willis building on Lime Street, has brought the case through the High Court via its real investment vehicle, St Martins Property. The legal claim states that 50 Fenchurch would “materially reduce the light enjoyed by the Willis Building” through some of the windows, “so as to amount to substantial interference with the ordinary enjoyment of the Willis Building and constitute a nuisance”, according to the Financial Times. The claimant is reportedly seeking an injunction to prevent the development from being completed in a way that infringes on its ‘Right to Light’, or alternatively damages. A defence to the claim has not yet been filed with the court - City AM
*Grazie mille, Ms Bottani!
The journals…
https://mdavis19881.substack.com/p/polirant-the-hate-at-the-heart-of