The funeral for Pope Francis took place on Saturday and stories from the emotional ceremony are still finding their way to the internet three days after the fact.
The pope’s funeral was always going to be an affair that garnered worldwide interest, attracting world leaders, dignitaries from all manner of countries, and in excess of 200,000 mourners.
Of the gathered, perhaps no one generated more headlines than President Donald Trump, who drew criticism for his choice of wardrobe, amongst other things.
The POTUS was in attendance with First Lady Melania Trump, who has largely kept herself out of the spotlight since her husband returned to the White House in January. And there was one interesting interaction between Trump and Melania that led to a lip-reader decoding four words the latter whispered to the former to apparently save him from an awkward moment.
Pope Francis’ funeral
Folk the world over were plunged into morning on Easter Monday when it was announced that Pope Francis, the 266th sovereign of the Vatican City State, had passed away.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
Francis suffered from health issues during large parts of his papacy, but in a 2024 sit-down with CBS show 60 Minutes, he stated that he had never considered stepping down.
Weeks ago he was released from the hospital after spending 38 days there for a life-threatening respiratory condition. On Easter Sunday, he passed through a crowd gathered at St. Peter’s Square crowd. Less than 24 hours later, he was dead, with his cause of death being identified as a stroke followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.
He was buried this past Saturday, April 26, and his funeral was, as expected, a huge event, attracting a who’s who of world leaders. Heads of state from over 50 countries were reportedly present, while in excess of 200,000 people turned out for the pope’s last send-off.
It’s unlikely to come as a surprise to many that Donald Trump stood out even in that crowd. The 78-year-old president donned a blue suit in favor of the traditional black, drawing criticism from some quarters, while it was also alleged that he chewed gum, played with his cellphone, and even potentially fell asleep during proceedings.
Trump was accused by some of having showed “no respect”. Others went as far as to label him “blasphemous” on social media platform X.
Say what you want about Trump, but it can’t be claimed that he didn’t use the occasion to put in valuable work. Pictures of the POTUS engaged in a “productive discussion” with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy emerged on Saturday, with said talks regarding the brokering of a peace deal with Russia said to have gone well.
And it wasn’t just the interaction between Trump and Zelenskyy that people found of interest, but also several between Trump and his wife, Melania. As mentioned above, the First Lady has kept a surprisingly low profile since the Trumps’ return to the White House, so much so that certain rumors have implied that her heart might not truly be in the role this time around.
Indeed, one conspiracy theory emerged following Pope Francis’ funeral suggesting that Melania wasn’t even present (despite there being video and photo evidence to the contrary) and that a body-double had traveled in her place.
Suffice to say that the relationship between Donald and Melania is something that has been talked about plenty in the past few months, so it makes sense that people are intrigued by what the couple might have said to each other during their appearance together in Rome on Saturday.
Trump’s Sign of Peace
Lip reader Nicola Hickling – who describes herself as a ‘forensic lip reader’ – weighed in with an assessment of what Trump said to Melania during one exchange during the funeral service for Pope Francis, and she’s also now revealed what she believes Melania whispered to her husband to save him from a potential awkward moment with French president Emmanuel Macron.
The interaction came about when the congregation were encouraged to offer one another the “Sign of Peace”. For those perhaps not in-the-know, the Sign of Peace is a Catholic ritual that sees churchgoers shake hands, embrace, or gesture towards one another in a bid to signify reconciliation and unity.
As per reports, Trump seemed to be unaware of this when it happened on Saturday, as he was witnessed watching those around him participating in the Sign of Peace without getting involved himself.
Melania – lip reader Hickling claims – intervened in order to save her husband some level of embarrassment, prompting Donald to extend his hand to those nearby.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hickling said that Melania whispered “you should do it” in her husband’s ear, to which Trump replied: “Oh, alright.”
The POTUS then engaged with Estonia’s President Alar Karis, as well as Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, before offering the Sign of Peace to Macron.
All’s well that ends well, right?
