  The bound--state problem for the pion as a quarkonium with the funnel
(Coulomb--plus--linear) interaction is solved in a framework that combines the
bilocal approach to mesons with the covariant generalization of the
instantaneous--potential model. The potential interaction leads to dynamical
breaking of chiral symmetry. However, the Coulomb potential leads to
ultraviolet divergences that must be subtracted. A careful choice of the
renormalization prescription is needed in order to get the correct chiral
limit. The mass, the lepton decay constant of the pion, as well as the pion
decay width in two photons are calculated.
