Pope Francis' funeral to be held on Saturday, Vatican says

Pope Francis' funeral will be held on Saturday in St. Peter's Square, Roman Catholic cardinals decided on Tuesday, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony that will draw leaders from around the world.

Francis, 88, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said.

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 and laid in a wooden coffin in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy. Swiss Guards stand on either side of the casket.

His body will be taken into the adjacent St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am (11:00 am Dubai time), in a procession led by cardinals, allowing the faithful to pay their last respects to the first Latin American pope.

His funeral service will be held in St. Peter's Square, in the shadow of the Basilica, on Saturday at 10:00 am (12:00 pm Dubai time).

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 were Javier Milei, president of Francis' native Argentina, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to a source in his office.

ANCIENT RITUALS

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.

Francis's sudden death has set in motion ancient rituals, as the 1.4-billion-member Church started the transition from one pope to another, including the breaking of the pope's "Fisherman's Ring" and lead seal, used in his lifetime to seal documents, so they cannot be used by anyone else.

All cardinals in Rome were summoned to a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the sequencing of events in the coming days and review the day-to-day running of the Church in the period before a new pope is elected.

A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before May 6.

Some 135 cardinals are eligible to participate in the secretive ballot, which can stretch over days before white smoke pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel tells the world that a new pope has been picked.

At present there is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis.