India Begins Mourning for Pope Francis With Flags at Half-Mast
X/ @timesofindia
April 22, 2025 Hour: 2:59 am
No official entertainment will be held in India until the mourning period concludes.
On Tuesday, India began three days of mourning in honor of Pope Francis, who passed away yesterday in Rome at the age of 88.
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The Ministry of Home Affairs of this Asian country, where the Christian population does not exceed 26 million people—or 2.3% of the total population—announced that India would observe three days of state mourning following the death of the Argentine-born pontiff.
“As a mark of respect, a three-day State Mourning will be observed throughout India as follows: 1. Two days of State Mourning on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, and Wednesday, April 23, 2025. 2. One day of State Mourning on the day of the funeral,” detailed New Delhi.
According to the Home Affairs statement, the Indian flag will fly at half-mast from today across the country on buildings where it is regularly displayed. Furthermore, no official entertainment will be held in India until the mourning period concludes.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sorrow over Pope Francis’s passing and stated that the pope will always be remembered “as an example of compassion, humility, and spiritual courage by millions of people around the world.”
Modi held several meetings with the pope during his papacy, the most recent of which took place in June 2024 on the sidelines of the G7 summit held in Italy.
In an earlier meeting in 2021, the Indian prime minister invited Pope Francis to visit India—a trip that ultimately did not take place.
Pope Francis, aged 88 and whose health had deteriorated in recent months, passed away on Monday at 7:35 a.m. Rome time at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta. The confirmed cause of death was a stroke.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
