VATICAN CITY — Thousands of young people from around the world had come to Rome expecting to rejoice this weekend in the canonization of the first millennial saint during the Vatican’s Holy Year. They ended up bidding farewell to Pope Francis instead, with their exuberance giving an uplifting tone to Saturday’s otherwise somber funeral.

“He always said you have to be joyful about life, you have to live life in a similar way,” said Marco Falchi, who traveled from his home near Perugia with his wife and 11-year-old son. He and his wife credit Francis with reviving their spirituality, and they named their son, Francesco, in his honor.

The family is also devoted to the cause of sainthood for Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian who died in 2006 from leukemia and inspired faith in many young Catholics. They planned their trip to Rome around that.

The canonization of Acutis had been scheduled for Sunday during the first Jubilee of Adolescents, dedicated to teens. It was suspended after Francis’ death Monday.

Falchi was struck by the lack of deep mourning at the funeral for the pope, and he is convinced that Francis would have been pleased.

“Especially since this was the jubilee for adolescents, he certainly didn’t want a day of mourning but he wanted a day of joy,” he said.

Some of the mourners wore suits, others the blue-and-white soccer jerseys of Francis’ native Argentina. Still others were dressed in traditional Polish garments or colorful cloths from Congo.

“More than a pope, he was a fatherly figure for us migrants,” Virginia Munos Ramires, 30, an El Salvador native, said as she held onto a railing in St. Peter’s Square under the beating sun. “He represented Latinos, immigrants; he was a reference for all of us.”

Many mourners broke into applause when Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who was officiating the Mass, recalled in his homily that the pope’s first trip had been to Lampedusa, a southern Italian island that has become emblematic of large numbers of migrants arriving in Europe over the past decade.

Francis was “giving himself without measure, especially to the marginalized,” Re said as he stood within sight of a giant statue of St. Peter, the Roman Catholic Church’s first pope.

With gulls crying out overhead and helicopters roaring higher in the sky, the crowd was largely silent as readings in Latin, Italian and other languages resounded in the square.

For all of its pomp and ceremony, the experience for the crowd also had something of the feel of a stadium concert. The Mass took place on a stage so distant that the figures appeared tiny. What made it feel close were giant screens and a speaker system that resonated around the piazza. Radio broadcasts in multiple languages added to the hum of humanity.

They applauded when Francis’ simple wooden coffin was moved outdoors.

Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful had planned their trips before the pope’s death.

“I bought my ticket for Carlo,” said Reyes Arribas, 23, of Valencia, Spain. “And then suddenly Pope Francis died, so I came to the funeral.”

She confessed that while she admired Francis, she felt a closer affinity to his predecessors, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Her feelings for Acutis, however, are strong. She excitedly praised him as “the first saint of young people” because he was immersed in the technological world of today.

Even those who were disappointed by the suspended canonization were gratified that they could celebrate Francis, loved by many for his humility and concern for the poor.

“I feel like I grew up with Pope Francis,” said Jessica Naranjo, 27, of Austin, Texas. “I felt very connected with him in the way he advocated for social justice and the environment. This was a big loss for me.”

“I”m disappointed that I’m here celebrating the pope’s life instead of celebrating with the pope,” she said.

Ana Kalen, 22, a medical student, traveled to Rome for the Acutis canonization with a group from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“The plans have changed, but we are still so glad to be here for this historical moment,” Kalen said, a Bosnian flag draped over her shoulders. “We are sad about each death. But we do believe that Pope Francis is in a better place.”

When Pope John Paul II died in 2005, the mood was different.

The faithful made pilgrimages from his Polish homeland and elsewhere to mourn a towering figure of the 20th century in a spirit of deep sadness and loss.

Francis had a different style.

During his 12-year papacy, he urged people to maintain a sense of humor, and that spirit seemed to guide many participants Saturday.

Groups of young people filled St. Peter’s Square before the funeral Mass.

One from a parish in Cassano Magnago in the northern Italian province of Varese danced in a circle and sang religious songs.

The pope’s death during the Easter season filled them with a sense of peace, one teenager said.

“It’s a good sign,” Matteo Cozzi, 16, said. “The death of a pope at Easter is a sign of hope.”

The New York Times contributed.