Azalina, Ewon to attend Pope Francis' funeral

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said and Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Ewon Benedick will represent Malaysia in the late Pope Francis’ funeral.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that the two ministers will be present for the ceremony in the Vatican City on April 26.

The state funeral will include a solemn Mass in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, presided over by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.

Following the mass, a ceremonial procession will accompany His Holiness’s remains to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, where he will be laid to rest in a private interment.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has also expressed his condolences on the pope’s passing on April 21, 2025.

In his message, the prime minister paid tribute to Pope Francis’s profound contributions to interfaith dialogue, environmental stewardship, and the defence of the marginalised.

On April 23, 2025, Ewon signed the Book of Condolences at the Apostolic Nunciature in Kuala Lumpur, on behalf of the government,

- Bernama

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