Tears and hope as Jerusalem pays tribute to Pope Francis

Tears mixed with smiles as a dense crowd flocked to the requiem mass for the pope at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Wednesday.

“He gave us hope, and we will keep that hope with us forever even in this situation in Palestine”, said Na’ma Tarsha, a retiree from the Mount of Olives in east Jerusalem, a part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967.

Dressed entirely in black, the 75-year-old woman said she was determined to take part in the mass for Pope Francis, who died…