Christians gather at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre to mourn Pope Francis

By Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Christians from around the world prayed for Pope Francis at a solemn Mass on Wednesday at Jerusalem's centuries-old Church of the Holy Sepulchre following the pontiff's passing this week.

Some worshippers shed tears under the rotunda as prayers echoed, while others lit candles and knelt at the Stone of the Anointing, the stone slab where it is believed Jesus's body was prepared for burial.

Among those who had gathered to honour Pope Francis was 55-year-old Palestinian Azzam Elias, from Bethlehem, who was only able to attend because he had received a permit from Israeli authorities to enter Jerusalem over the Easter holiday period.

"God bless his soul. Pope Francis is an international figure. He called for peace, love, respect, dialogue between religions. This mass is something simple for such a person," he said.

Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, ending an often turbulent reign in which he sought to overhaul an ancient and divided institution.

"We pray because we are grateful for his work and what he's done for the Church, and we pray for his soul", said 24-year-old Constance, a French Catholic volunteering in Jerusalem.

Constance, who asked that her surname not be published, said that, while not every Catholic had agreed with the late pontiff, it was important to pray for him.

Francis, who became pope in 2013, pursued liberal reforms that were often divisive in the Vatican and beyond.

UNITY

The Mass was led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa and attended by other Christian denominations in the Holy Land, including from the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Marwan Dides, a Palestinian Franciscan brother in Jerusalem, said the presence of other Christian denominations at the Mass held at one of Christianity's holiest sites was important.

"We always pray for unity between Christians and we still have hope," he said, outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is revered as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.

The Holy Sepulchre is situated in the Old City's Christian Quarter in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and later annexed. The Armenian, Catholic and Greek churches share custody and the Coptic and Syrian churches have rights.

Francis, who had advocated for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, visited Israel and the occupied West Bank in 2014. He went to the Western Wall, the most sacred prayer site in Judaism, and also prayed at a section of a wall built by Israel in the West Bank that separates Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The Israeli government shared and then deleted a social media post offering condolences over the death of Pope Francis, without saying why, though an Israeli newspaper linked the decision to the late pontiff's criticism of the war in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a far-right coalition of religious and nationalist parties, has not commented on the pope's death. Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday sent a message of condolence shortly after his passing.

Francis had campaigned for an end to the war in Gaza, phoning the tiny Christian community there every evening.

Relations between the Catholic Church and Judaism have improved in recent decades, after centuries of animosity.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Alex Richardson)