Priests hope to represent region at Pope's funeral

Two priests who happened to be on holiday in Rome at the time of Pope Francis' death have said they will be representing the West Midlands "in spirit" when they attend his funeral on Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to turn out to St Peter's Square to pay their respects to the Pope, who died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday.

Among the world leaders and Catholic officials, Father Ryan Service, from Sutton Coldfield and Father John Waters, from north Staffordshire, will be joining the queues at St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

The priests told BBC Radio WM that Rome's atmosphere was an "odd mix of joy for Easter but sadness of saying goodbye to their Holy Father".

Father Waters, 37, said finding out the news of the Pope's death while they were on holiday was "surreal".

The pair, who are both members of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, were visiting their former priesthood training college when they found out the news.

Father Service, 37, said: "A lot of people are on holiday here and then they get caught up in this world global event, you're going about having nice Italian meals and then suddenly you're at the centre of this drama.

"People are fascinated and those who are in Rome this week have got a chance to be part of history."

The priests said they had to call their college to borrow vestments to be able to wear to the funeral as they had just packed for a holiday.

Pope Francis' body is currently lying in state in St Peter's Basilica.

Crowds of mourners have been slowly filing past the coffin, which will sit in front of the Papal Altar until his funeral on Saturday.

Father Service said there was a separate entrance for priests at the funeral but "thousands will be going".

"We really want to be there representing our local parishes," he said.

"A lot of people want to be there so we are representing all those people back home, we are there with them in spirit."

Both priests have met Pope Francis during a private audience with their college community.

Father Waters said: "Much to everyone's surprise he acknowledged the difficulty facing us young men giving our lives to the priesthood.

"He actually said 'I am so pleased to see you all here because it is much more difficult for your generation than mine to give yourselves to the priesthood', and while I have heard serving priests say that I never imagined I would hear the serving pontiff say that."

Pope Francis's funeral will begin at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) on Saturday in Rome.

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