C T Online Desk: Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to the interim government, attended the funeral of the late Pope Francis alongside leaders from over 130 countries.
The funeral took place yesterday at St Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Upon his arrival, senior Vatican officials welcomed Dr Yunus. He stood in solemn silence before the Pope’s coffin and then joined the two-hour funeral ceremony with global dignitaries.
Pope Francis passed away on Monday morning at his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, at the age of 88. He had served as the head of the Catholic Church for over a decade, leaving a profound legacy. Following news of his death, Dr Yunus—who was then attending an economic conference in Qatar—expressed deep sorrow and immediately diverted his travel plans from Doha to Italy instead of returning to Dhaka. He departed Qatar on Friday morning.
According to the Chief Adviser’s press wing, the late Pope Francis was an admirer of Dr Yunus’s work, particularly his efforts to uplift marginalised communities across the globe. The Pope had publicly praised Dr Yunus’s ‘Three Zeroes’ philosophy—zero unemployment, zero poverty, and zero net carbon emissions—and had even partnered with him to launch a joint initiative promoting these goals.
Before and after the funeral, Dr Yunus exchanged pleasantries with a number of prominent global figures, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, EU President Ursula von der Leyen, former US President Joe Biden, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the presidents of Kenya, Montenegro, East Timor, Iceland and Portugal, as well as royals and heads of government from Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, and Liechtenstein. He also met with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom, IOC President Thomas Bach, and former US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Italian police reported that around 140,000 people gathered in and around St Peter’s Square to pay their respects to the late pontiff. Dr Yunus is scheduled to depart Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport for Bangladesh at 8:00am local time (12:00pm BST) and is expected to arrive home early Monday morning.
