Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade

Summary

Up First from NPR: April 26, 2025

NPR's Up First delivered a poignant and comprehensive exploration of two major global events: the funeral ceremony of Pope Francis and the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza under the Israeli blockade. Below is a detailed summary capturing all key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode.

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1. Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony

Overview: The passing of Pope Francis at the age of 88 marked the end of a significant era for the Catholic Church. Up First provided an on-the-ground report from St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, capturing the solemnity and global significance of the funeral proceedings.

Key Highlights:

• Massive Global Attendance:

  • Lauren Frayer reported from St. Peter's Square, highlighting the vast crowds gathered to pay their respects. The presence of global leaders underscored Pope Francis's international influence.
  • Sylvia Poggioli vividly described the scene: “We've just stepped into a Renaissance painting... the dome of St. Peter's Basilica etched across these deep blue skies” ([00:26]).

• Interfaith and Multinational Representation:

  • The ceremony was not only a Catholic event but an interfaith commemoration. Ruth Sherlock emphasized the diversity: “There have been Muslim clerics here... European royals... African leaders in military dress” ([03:16]).
  • Readings during the mass were delivered in multiple languages, including Arabic, Polish, and Chinese, reflecting Pope Francis's commitment to global outreach ([03:49]).

• Personal Stories and Emotional Impact:

  • Attendees shared heartfelt connections to the Pope. For instance, Antonella Marcuts expressed profound grief and admiration, stating, “She talks about how much Pope Francis meant... for bringing different faiths together” ([05:07]).
  • Bishop Thomas Masters highlighted the Pope’s dedication to human rights and justice, “He was there fighting for the underdog... he did not use his position to be above and beyond others” ([05:36]).

• Political Attendees and Dynamics:

  • Notable political figures, including former President Trump, President Zelensky of Ukraine, and former President Biden, attended. Their interactions, such as the brief meeting between Trump and Zelensky depicted a blend of political undercurrents within the religious ceremony ([06:19]).
  • The seating arrangement followed diplomatic protocols, with nations ordered alphabetically in French, introducing an element of structured diplomacy to the event ([06:32]).
  • A critical moment occurred during the homily when Cardinal Rea quoted Pope Francis: “Build bridges, not walls,” directly referencing the Pope’s stance on immigration and criticizing certain US policies ([07:08]).

• Final Resting Place:

  • The funeral concluded at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a site deeply significant to Pope Francis. Antonella Marcuts noted the symbolic inclusion of marginalized groups, such as the homeless and war victims, in the final farewell ([07:50]).
  • This setting underscored Pope Francis's lifelong commitment to supporting the disadvantaged and his efforts to integrate social justice into his papacy ([08:37]).

Concluding Thoughts: Sylvia Poggioli reflected on the architectural symbolism of the Vatican and pondered the future direction of the Catholic Church post-Pope Francis, questioning whether his direct and assertive style would influence a shift away from centuries-old practices of secrecy and conditional diplomacy ([08:49]).

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2. Gaza Under Israeli Blockade: A Humanitarian Crisis

Overview: The episode delved into the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN's food agency has exhausted its food supplies amidst an Israeli blockade. This crisis has left approximately 2 million Palestinians grappling with severe shortages of food and medical supplies.

Key Highlights:

• Blockade and Its Impacts:

  • Lauren Frayer introduced the issue by highlighting that Israel's blockade, intended to pressure Hamas into accepting a ceasefire and returning hostages, has resulted in the depletion of vital aid supplies in Gaza ([09:44]).
  • Hadil Al Shalci elaborated on the dire situation: “The UN's World Food Program... has run out of food stocks that it supplies to charity kitchens” ([10:19]).

• Humanitarian Shortfalls:

  • With the blockade halting aid since March, Gaza faces a catastrophic shortage of food and clean water. Hadil Al Shalci reported on personal stories, such as Nader Katoom struggling to secure even a single plate of rice for his family of seven ([10:47]).
  • Prices in local markets have surged by as much as 1,400%, making sustenance unattainable for many ([10:19]).

• Attempts at Negotiation:

  • Efforts to negotiate a ceasefire or the release of hostages have seen little success. Hadil Al Shalci noted ongoing but stagnated talks: “Hamas is still insisting on a full end to the war before releasing any more hostages” ([11:32]).
  • Recent diplomatic moves include meetings between Mossad officials and Qatari officials in Doha, and delegations from Hamas engaging with Egyptian mediators ([11:32]).

• Political Developments in the US:

  • The visit of Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the US stirred controversy. Previously considered persona non grata due to his ultra-nationalist and extremist views, Ben Gvir attended an event at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and received mixed receptions ([12:15]).
  • While he garnered support from some Republican officials and advocated for intensified blockade measures, his appearance was met with protests and hostility from anti-war demonstrators ([12:23]).

• Local Reactions and Violence:

  • The event hosted by a Jewish group at Yale University saw anti-Gaza war protesters throwing bottles at Ben Gvir as he left, indicating deep divisions and heightened tensions surrounding US-Israel relations regarding the Gaza crisis ([12:23]).

Concluding Thoughts: The segment underscored the severity of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, painting a grim picture of life under blockade and the complex geopolitical struggles intertwined with aid and diplomacy. The relentless blockade strategy, coupled with diminishing local resources, raises urgent questions about the sustainability and ethical implications of such measures.

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Looking Ahead

Up First teased the next day's episode, hinting at a significant story involving a whistleblower within the federal government and potential breaches of sensitive data affecting millions of Americans.

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Notable Quotes:

• Bishop Thomas Masters on Pope Francis’s legacy: “He was there fighting for the underdog... he did not use his position to be above and beyond others.” ([05:36])

• Cardinal Rea reflecting Pope Francis’s values: “Build bridges, not walls.” ([07:08])

• Nader Katoom on the crisis in Gaza: “The situation is catastrophic. There's no food, clean water and life is just impossible.” ([10:52])

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Final Notes: This episode of Up First masterfully balanced coverage of a significant religious milestone with an urgent humanitarian crisis, providing listeners with a nuanced understanding of both events' global and human dimensions.

Transcript

[Lauren Frayer]

Mourners gathered today for Pope Francis funeral in Vatican City.

[Scott Simon]

The pontiff passed away on Monday at the age of 88. I'm Scott Simon in Washington, D.C. and.

[Lauren Frayer]

I'm Lauren Frayer at St. Peter's Square in Rome. And this is up first from NPR News. I'm live on the edge of St. Peter's Square in front of the Vatican, where large crowds have been paying their respects to Pope Francis.

[Scott Simon]

We'll have more on the ceremony and how it reflects on Pope Francis legacy.

[Lauren Frayer]

Plus, the UN's food agency says it has delivered the last of its food supplies in Gaza, which remains under Israeli blockade.

[Scott Simon]

So please stay with us. We have the news you need to start your weekend.

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[Lauren Frayer]

People attended the funeral mass for Pope Francis today.

[Scott Simon]

Of course, that includes heads of state from all over the world. And Lauren, you're there in St. Peter's Square along with our colleagues Sylvia Poggioli and Ruth Sherlock Loren. Let's start with you. Tell us, please, what you're seeing.

[Sylvia Poggioli]

Scott, We've just stepped into a Renaissance painting. I'm looking up at the dome of St. Peter's Basilica etched across these deep blue skies and puffs of white clouds rolling past this square in front of the basilica swelled with people today and with color, cardinals in bright red, nuns in black and white, monks in brown robes. The day began with bells tolling across this city and at the basilica here, and then a homage of global leaders, royals, military men and women. The cobblestone Streets of Rome have been lined with people, in some places 20 people deep, applauding as the pope Mobile carried Francis out of the Vatican for the last time, past Roman ruins, past the Colosseum, to his final resting place.

[Lauren Frayer]

In an immigrant neighborhood.

[Sylvia Poggioli]

And Scott, one of the things that strikes me, while these were very traditional Catholic rites, this has been a very interfaith commemoration. There have been Muslim clerics here. I saw a person in a Native American feather headdress, European royals with medals pinned on their coats, next to Latin American nuns, next to African leaders in military dress. A very global send off for Pope.

[Scott Simon]

Francis and Silvia Poggioli. You covered Pope Francis on so many papal trips around the world. What signs did you see of his global legacy there today?

[Ruth Sherlock]

Oh, there was huge evidence of his global outreach here. There were, as Lauren said, representatives of many of the world's religions. And the mass was sprinkled with readings in many languages, not just Latin, Italian and English, but also Arabic, Polish and Chinese. Pope Francis made many foreign trips. I went on several to Cuba, the U.S. several African countries, and the Middle East. And in his homily, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Rey, mentioned in particular the one in 2021 to Iraq, which has some of the world's oldest Christian communities and where the cardinal said Pope Francis defied every risk, providing what he called a balm on the open wounds of the Iraqi people who, who had suffered so much from the inhuman actions of isis. It was also on that trip that Francis visited the Shiite Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf, part of his outreach to the world of Islam.

[Lauren Frayer]

And our colleague, NPR's Ruth Sherlock, has.

[Sylvia Poggioli]

Been wading through the crowds of faithful all day today. Ruth, what are people telling you out there?

[Antonella Marcuts]

Well, Lauren, there are people who traveled all night to be at this funeral. There was, for example, Antonella Marcuts, who took a bus from Austria to arrive at dawn in Rome. This means so much to her. And you can hear the emotion in her voice.

[Ruth Sherlock]

It's important. Arrival at home for Papa Francisco.

[Antonella Marcuts]

She's crying and you know, she talks about how much Pope Francis meant, like, so like you've mentioned in for bringing different faiths together. And you have stuff stories like this all over the square. I spoke with Bishop Thomas Masters, who was in the crowd dressed in his bright purple bishop robes. And I asked him why he chose to make this long trip from Florida to be here.

[Bishop Thomas Masters]

I honor Pope Francis in so many different ways. Human rights. He was there justice. He was there fighting for the underdog. If I can use that. The people, the poor, the impoverished. He was there. And he did not use his position to be above and beyond others. The pope used his position to be with the common people.

[Antonella Marcuts]

St. Peter's Square is surrounded by these semicircles of colonnades with statues of Catholic saints all around. And that threw open to this bright blue sky. And many people in the crowd told me they felt as though Pope Francis might be looking down on this event from above.

[Scott Simon]

Sylvia, a solemn religious day, of course, but politics don't take the day off. President Trump was there. So was Ukraine's President Zelensky and former President Biden. How did all that work?

[Ruth Sherlock]

Well, the crowd watching the ceremony on big video screens in the square made their opinion known. Clearly, they were silent when President Trump and the first lady arrived and broke out into loud applause when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared. The White House confirmed Trump and Zelenskyy met briefly before the ceremony. And we've seen a photo of the two of them seated in chairs inside St. Peter's Basilica, arms on knees, huddling deep in conversation. The seating order of all the other big many delegations was very interesting. It was by name of nation in the alphabetical order of French, the language of diplomacy. The US has the letter E for it as unique. So President Trump sat between the representatives of Estonia and Finland. There was also a strict dress code. Many men wore black ties. Many women had the recommended long black dress, heads covered by a black veil or lace mantilla. One of the most striking moments was during the homily with President Trump sitting nearby. Cardinal Rea recalled a famous quote of Francis, build bridges, not walls. One of the Pope's strongest criticisms of the US President's policy of deporting migrants.

[Sylvia Poggioli]

Ruth, you followed Pope Francis funeral cortege across Rome to the Basilica of St.

[Lauren Frayer]

Mary Major, where he's now been laid to rest. What's the scene there?

[Antonella Marcuts]

Well, of course, there were crowds of people outside this church that was so dear to Francis. You know, this basilica is home to an icon, a painting of Mother Mary and Baby Jesus that Francis would pray to before and after every trip out of Rome. And one of the priorities of his papacy was Francis's care for the poor and the disadvantaged. And he was known, for example, to slip out of the Vatican to visit homeless shelters nearby there. And this was also the final focus of this funeral, too. A group of people from disadvantaged backgrounds were invited to be by the entrance of St. Mary Major, people without homes, migrants, prisoners, victims of war. It was a fitting end that these people should be the final people to say goodbye to this pope.

[Scott Simon]

And Silvia Poggioli, you covered this entire papacy from the moment that Pope Francis first stepped out onto the steps to greet the people to today. What are your thoughts?

[Ruth Sherlock]

Well, I'm sitting here looking at this grand baroque square and I think it's very much this architecture is a representation of the temporal power of the Catholic Church. One of the characteristics is trompe d'oeuil optical illusion. I think that's a metaphor that helps us understand the Vatican's modus operandi. Shifting perspectives, always using the conditional. That's the opposite of how Francis thought and acted. He was always very direct and assertive. It'll be interesting to see if his straightforward style will change the Vatican's centuries old secrecy and vagueness. We'll have a better idea next week or maybe in 10 days or so when we see who the cardinal cardinals pick as Francis successor in the upcoming conclave.

[Scott Simon]

And Pierre, Silvia Poggioli with Sherlock and Lauren Frayer. Thank you all.

[Ruth Sherlock]

Bye, Scott.

[Antonella Marcuts]

Thank you, Scott.

[Lauren Frayer]

Thanks so much.

[Scott Simon]

It's been eight weeks since Israel's blockade cut off aid to Gaza that includes medical supplies and food.

[Lauren Frayer]

Israel says the blockade and bombardment are intended to compel Hamas to accept a cease ceasefire proposal and return the remaining hostages.

[Scott Simon]

Now the UN's food agency says that it has run out of supplies to distribute in Gaza. And this is deep in the humanitarian crisis that's faced by roughly 2 million Palestinians who are there. And Piero's Hadil Al Shalci joins us. Thank you for being with us.

[Hadil Al Shalci]

Good morning, Scott.

[Scott Simon]

No aid since the beginning of March. What's the current situation like?

[Hadil Al Shalci]

Right. So the UN's World Food Program announced yesterday that it has run out of food stocks that it supplies to charity kitchens that make me for Palestinians. You know, about half of Gaza's population depends on these kitchens. Israel says it's blocked the aid because it wants Hamas to hand over more hostages and it accuses Hamas of stealing the aid. But the UN says that very little is actually diverted and humanitarian groups are calling the blockade a starvation tactic and potentially a war crime.

[Scott Simon]

And Adil, what are you able to hear from Palestinians in Gaza? What are they eating?

[Hadil Al Shalci]

Yeah, so NPR's producer in Gaza, Eneas Baba, went to one of these charity kitchens in central Gaza and spoke to Nader Katoom. He was in line to get that one plate of rice to feed his family of seven. He says the situation is catastrophic. There's no food, clean water and life is just impossible. You know, Ennis himself has also told us he's been struggling to find food and the cash to buy it because, you know, some other aid groups still have food stocks and there is still some food in the markets. But they're all quickly diminishing because no new goods are coming into Gaza. And the UN Says the price of food in those markets has soared by as much as 1,400%.

[Scott Simon]

Israel is trying to use aid to pressure Hamas into a new deal and return the hostages. Any progress on that?

[Hadil Al Shalci]

I mean, short answer is not really. You know, what we do know is that this week Israel said the head of Mossad met with Qatari officials in Doha. And Hamas said it sent a delegation to Cairo and some talks with Egyptian mediators started today with them. But this is basically where we've been at for the past couple of months. You know, Hamas is still insisting on a full end to the war before releasing any more hostages. And Israel says it wants an short term cease fire that would see some more of the hostages released. And they said that they just won't stop until Hamas is completely defeated. And we know that the Trump administration has made it very clear that it backs Israel.

[Scott Simon]

And this week, a far right Israeli cabinet member got a very warm reception here in the U.S. tell us about his visit.

[Hadil Al Shalci]

That's right. So ultra nationalist Security Minister Itamar Ben GVIR was in the US this week. You know, during the Biden administration, ultranationalist politicians like Ben GVIR were Persona non gratas for things like, like their extremist racist views on Arabs. But while Ben GVIR didn't meet with President Trump this week, he did attend an event at Trump's Mar a Lago resort. He said he met with senior Republican officials there. He didn't name them, though. And after the meeting, he said he has support for his position on Gaza, which includes bombing food aid depots there as a means to pressure Hamas to return the hostages. But it wasn't all warm. Anti Gaza war protesters threw bottles at him and apparently they didn't miss when he was leaving. An event host by a Jewish group.

[Scott Simon]

At Yale University and Pierre Sodilo Shalci in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much for being with us.

[Hadil Al Shalci]

You're very welcome.

[Lauren Frayer]

And that's up first for Saturday, April 26th, 2025. I'm Lauren Frayer.

[Scott Simon]

And I'm Scott Simon.

[Lauren Frayer]

Andrew Craig produced today's episode with help from Gabe O'Connor, Fatima El Kassab and Sarah Ventricles.

[Scott Simon]

Dee Parvaz is our editor, and she had help from Martha Ann Overland, Tara Nail and Carrie Conn. Michael Radcliffe is.

[Lauren Frayer]

Our director, with support from Technical Director Andy Huether and engineers David Greenberg, Zach Coleman and Arthur Halliday Laurent.

[Scott Simon]

Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes, Evie Stone is our executive producer and Jim Cain is our deputy managing editor.

[Lauren Frayer]

Tomorrow on the Sunday's story, a whistleblower inside the federal government says Doge representatives appear to have taken sensitive data and then covered their tracks. Tune in to hear more about their efforts and what such potential breaches could mean for the private data of millions of Americans.

[Scott Simon]

And for more news, interviews, sports and music, you can tune in to Weekend EDITION on your radio. Go to stations.NPR.org and find your local station.

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