VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Minutes before the funeral for Pope Francis began outside in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday (April 26), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump sat leaning toward each other on solitary chairs in the marbled hall outside the Baptistry Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica. It was their first meeting since their blowup at the White House in February, which ended with the Ukrainian leader stalking out.
The late pontiff, a staunch advocate of peace through dialogue, would likely have appreciated the impromptu meeting at his funeral, which some Vatican observers are already calling Francis’ first miracle.
Shortly afterward, Trump and Zelenskyy walked out of the basilica together, trailing French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had promoted the conversation. The large crowd in the square applauded and cardinals taking their seats took note, with some saying that Francis’ legacy of peacemaking will weigh on their minds as they turn to deciding who will become the next pope.
“Pope Francis brought the pain of not being able to achieve peace to the grave,” said Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi, archbishop of Córdoba, Argentina, and, like Francis, a Jesuit. “It was Pope Francis’ greatest regret,” he said.
Sixto said that the cardinals “will have the responsibility of following in Francis’ footsteps” and that he hoped the next pope would continue to promote the message to “live the gospel.”
Ahead of Saturday’s funeral, Trump posted on TruthSocial that the U.S. and Russia were very close to a deal on ending fighting in Ukraine, but comments from Zelenskyy leave room for doubt that he is comfortable with the present terms.
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried in front of dignitaries, including President Donald Trump, center, and French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, during Francis’ funeral in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The two leaders “met privately and had a very productive discussion,” a White House spokesman said immediately after the funeral Mass. In a post on X, Zelenskyy said they had a “good meeting” where the two leaders “discussed a lot one on one.”
Zelenskyy expressed his hope that the 15-minute encounter might yield a peace deal that would protect Ukrainian lives, ensure a ceasefire and prevent another war. “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results,” he wrote in his X post.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the funeral, sending a representative instead. With a warrant issued for Putin’s arrest March 17 by the International Criminal Court for allegedly deporting children from Ukraine, he is at risk of being detained.
Immediately after the funeral, Zelenskyy had tweeted his farewell and gratitude toward the late pontiff, asking that “the Lord May hear every sincere heart today!”
As cardinals left the ceremony, where the celebrant of the Mass, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, recalled the pope’s warnings that “war always leaves the world worse than before,” the prelates reflected on the significance the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting will have on the conclave electing the next pope.
Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, archbishop of Algiers, who was seated near Zelenskyy, said he could see the Ukrainian leader look up anxiously as police drones circled overhead. “In his home, they mean that bombs will be dropping,” said the archbishop.
He said the the funeral’s spectacle of national leaders coming together, “the biggest in the world, next to the smallest in the world,” alongside migrants, the poor and the unhoused, gave him hope that the meeting between the American and Ukrainian “will bring peace — Pope Francis’ greatest fight,” he said. As Vesco and his fellow cardinals convene to elect Francis’ successor, he added, he hopes “they will let the Holy Spirit talk to our hearts and elect a good pope.”
Asked about the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said he too was impressed by the fact that so many politicians were willing to be present at the funeral and exchange the sign of peace during the Mass.
“If the church provides a space where politicians at that level can encounter each other in the atmosphere of such a Eucharistic celebration, with the message of such a pope, I do hope that that is an impulse for them to say, ‘Let us look forward, how do we now find a solution?’ A just solution. But a solution that truly contributes to peace,” he said.
At the upcoming conclave, expected to begin May 5 or 6, the cardinals will consider more than the geopolitical situation around the globe. On Wednesday, Cardinal Aquilino Bocos Merino, who will take part but not vote at the conclave, having surpassed the age of 80, said, “The cardinals will seek the best candidate, according to the spirit of the gospel and the needs of the world.”