Online Reporter
Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, Roman Catholic cardinals decided on Tuesday, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony that will draw leaders from around the world.
Pope Francis, 88, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.
The pontiff spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year suffering from double pneumonia. But he returned to the Vatican almost a month ago and had seemed to be recovering, appearing in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
The Vatican on Tuesday released photographs of Francis dressed in his vestments lying in a wooden coffin in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.
His body will be taken into the adjacent St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning in a procession led by cardinals, allowing the faithful to pay their last respects to the first Latin American pope.
US President Donald Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the pope about immigration, said he and his wife would fly to Rome for the service.
Among other heads of state set to attend are Javier Milei, President of Pope Francis’ native Argentina, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a source in his office.
In a break from tradition, Francis confirmed in his final testament, released on Monday, that he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not St Peter’s, where many of his predecessors were laid to rest. – REUTERS
Peter Tanyanyiwa