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Jo McKenna: Italy Correspondent on the death of Pope Francis · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The world has been mourning the death of Pope Francis,
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  Speaker 1: who died overnight at the age of eighty eight. He
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: was the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: And it comes as a shock as just the day before,
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  Speaker 1: on Easter Sunday, the Pope had greeted a crowd of
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  Speaker 1: tens of thousands at the East Sunday Mass and the
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  Speaker 1: Vatican Right. Rome correspondent Joe mckinnaitt has the latest for us.
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  Speaker 1: She joins us, Now, are you there, Joe, We'll just.
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  Speaker 2: Get rid of here, yes, se can you me okay.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, I can. Where are you There's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: bustle around you. Are you out and amongst the people?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, good morning, Francesca. I'm at the Vatican right now,
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  Speaker 2: and thousands of people are pouring into Saint Peter's Square
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  Speaker 2: as we speak for a special rosary in memory of
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  Speaker 2: Pope Francis. People are shocked and shaken, as you can imagine,
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  Speaker 2: just a day after seeing him in this same square
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  Speaker 2: greet the faithful and blessing everyone for Easter Sunday.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: It has been a shock. Even though we know he
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  Speaker 1: hasn't been well, his health seemed to be improving.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, after thirty eight days in hospital and some very
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  Speaker 2: dangerous moments there where the doctor said they almost lost him.
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  Speaker 2: There were hopes that he would recover, but as we
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  Speaker 2: probably as you probably saw, you know, he was looking
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  Speaker 2: very weak and frail, and his voice was struggling. I
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  Speaker 2: think we still saw that he was struggling to get
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  Speaker 2: over that double pneumonia. And in a short time tonight
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  Speaker 2: we're about to learn what the cause of death was.
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  Speaker 2: There was speculation that he died of a stroke overnight,
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  Speaker 2: but some other speculations suggesting that it might have been
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  Speaker 2: a pulmonary embolism. So just waiting for some results from
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  Speaker 2: the Vatican on that tonight.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, how much of an impact did Pope Francis have,
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  Speaker 1: not just on the Catholic Church, but the whole world. Joe, look,
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  Speaker 1: I think go back.
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  Speaker 2: To that first night Francesco I was here in the
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  Speaker 2: square when he was elected twenty thirteen, and he set
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  Speaker 2: the tone immediately with his informality, his friendliness. And then
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  Speaker 2: soon after that his first official visit, which many people
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  Speaker 2: may not remember, was to the island of Lamp Producer
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  Speaker 2: off the coast of Sicily, where he wanted to reach
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  Speaker 2: out to all those migrants who were struggling to make
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  Speaker 2: the voyage across the Mediterranean, so really about informality reaching
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  Speaker 2: out to the poor and the underprivileged. He took a
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  Speaker 2: strong stand on climate change and saving the planet, and
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  Speaker 2: was really against the trappings of capitalism, status and all
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  Speaker 2: those things that we all get caught up in consumerism
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  Speaker 2: and all that sort of stuff.
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  Speaker 1: And we can see that, can't we, Just in the
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  Speaker 1: way that he's decided to have his public viewing at
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  Speaker 1: the Basilica. You know, he doesn't want he wants to
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  Speaker 1: be in the cough and he doesn't want to be
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  Speaker 1: on a raised podium. He wants to keep it simple.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a very good message. And he
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  Speaker 2: doesn't want to be buried at the Vatican like many
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  Speaker 2: other popes. He has chosen his burial place in a
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  Speaker 2: basilica on the other side of Rome called Saint Mary Major,
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  Speaker 2: where he would often go and say a prayer to
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  Speaker 2: the Madonna before he went traveling on his overseas trips,
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  Speaker 2: many many overseas trips to faraway places from including Iraq,
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  Speaker 2: the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and again emphasizing that outreach
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  Speaker 2: that he felt so strongly about.
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  Speaker 1: Joe.
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  Speaker 2: What happens now, So tonight there will be a ritual
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  Speaker 2: inside his apartment inside the Vatican, the Coza Marta apartment
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  Speaker 2: where he lived. They will, I think, smash the ring
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  Speaker 2: and seal his room, and then his body will be
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  Speaker 2: moved into a coffin and moved into the Basilica, probably
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  Speaker 2: Wednesday morning, and he will lie in state fare and
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  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of people are expected to come into Rome.
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  Speaker 2: I think we'll see the sort of reaction that we
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  Speaker 2: saw with Pope John Paul's funeral way back in two
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  Speaker 2: thousand and five. People will come from all over the
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  Speaker 2: world for this viewing. Then the funeral is likely to
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  Speaker 2: be held Friday or Sunday next weekend. Then there'll be
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  Speaker 2: a break, There'll be days of several days of morning,
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  Speaker 2: and then the conclave will begin inside the Systeine Chapel
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  Speaker 2: to elect the new Pope.
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  Speaker 1: Joe mckinna, thank you so much for your time. Really
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  Speaker 1: appreciate this morning. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: listen live to News Talks it be from five am weekdays,
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  Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.