Argentina bids farewell to Pope Francis with 'symbolic embrace' at open-air mass in Buenos Aires

People pray outside the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, following the death of Pope Francis, in Buenos Aires, Argentina April 26, 2025. REUTERS/Mariana Nedelcu

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentines bid farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday, holding a massive open-air mass in front of the cathedral where he served as the archbishop of Buenos Aires before his papacy.

Giant screens and displays highlighted the figure of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the son of Italian immigrants born in Buenos Aires in 1936 who made history by defending the poor as the first Latin American pope.