Sawt Falasteen - Trump, Zelensky to attend Pope Francis's funeral Saturday

The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday after a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia.

His funeral, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Saturday in the majestic Baroque plaza in front of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Francis's coffin -- which he previously ordered should be of wood and zinc -- will then be taken inside the church and from there to Rome's papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.

The funeral date was set by cardinals meeting in a so-called "general congregation", the first of a series of meetings which will culminate in a conclave within three weeks, where a new pope will be elected.

Francis died in the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy, and his body was laid out in its chapel on Monday evening.

Senior clergy and Vatican staff paid their respects on Tuesday, many shedding a tear as they prayed before the pontiff's open wooden coffin.

The Jesuit was dressed in his papal vestments -- a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes, with rosary beads laced around his fingers.

His coffin will be transferred to St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday at 9:00 am, to lie in state until Saturday's funeral.

In St Peter's Square, believers and tourists alike gathered to pay their respects, some bearing flowers or candles and with many lost in their thoughts.

"When a church is left without its head we are all a little disoriented," said Slovenian priest Bastian Dolinsek.

Sister Maria Guadeloupe Hernandez Olivo, from Mexico, said it was "very hard, very sad" to hear news of his death.

"I did not expect it," she told AFP, adding: "I believe he's in a better place, no longer suffering, but I do feel this emptiness for our pastor."

- Final hours -

According to the Holy See's official media outlet, Vatican News, Francis started feeling ill Monday at around 5:30 am, less than 24 hours after he greeted a crowd of faithful in St Peter's Square on Easter Sunday.

Before falling into a coma, he waved to his personal nurse Massimiliano Strappetti from his bed, in what Vatican News described as "a gesture of farewell".

On Sunday, he had thanked Strappetti for encouraging him to take what would become his last tour of St Peter's Square in his popemobile.

"Thank you for bringing me back to the square," Francis was quoted as saying.

He was pronounced dead at 7:35 am on Monday.

"He did not suffer. It all happened quickly," Vatican News said, citing people who were with the pontiff in his final moments.

- Week of mourning -

Tributes have poured in from around the globe for Francis, a liberal reformer who took over following the resignation of German theologian Benedict XVI in 2013.

Argentina announced a week of national mourning and President Javier Milei said he would attend the funeral.

India began three days of state mourning on Tuesday, a rare honour for a foreign religious leader, while Italy declared five -- longer than the three days observed for Pope John Paul II in 2005.

Trump was among the first to confirm he would attend the funeral, even after Francis criticised his migrant deportations.

Other expected guests include European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, France's Emmanuel Macron and Britain's Prince William.

Ukrainian President Zelensky will also attend, and expressed hope of meeting Trump at the ceremony.

Cardinals will meet again on Wednesday afternoon, to arrange the next steps.

At the first meeting, attended by around 60 cardinals, lots were drawn to pick three people to help the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, run the Vatican's day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected.

Only those under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in the conclave, which should begin no less than 15 days and no more than 20 after the death of the pope -- meaning between May 5 and 10.

Speculation is already growing about who will take over from Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, who was the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit.

Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio in Corsica, told AFP as he arrived in Rome that it would be an "intense" time.

- Franciscus -

Francis, who during his papacy wore plain robes and eschewed the luxury of his predecessors, has opted for a simple tomb, unadorned except for his name in Latin, Franciscus.

In choosing to be buried in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, he will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.

His death certificate released by the Vatican said Francis died of a stroke, causing a coma and "irreversible" heart failure.

Although Francis was ordered by doctors to spend two months resting after being discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital on March 23, the pontiff could not resist numerous public appearances.

"I saw on Easter Sunday that the pope was tired. He kept going right to the end, right to his last breath," Bustillo said.

- Advocate for change -

The hugely popular Francis was an energetic reformer who sought to open the Church to everyone, but his views also sparked fierce internal opposition.

Outspoken and stubborn, Francis also sought to reform the governance of the Holy See, expand the role of women and lay people, and clean up the Vatican's murky finances.

Faced with revelations of widespread child sex abuse in the Church, he lifted pontifical secrecy and forced religious and lay people to report cases to their superiors -- measures that victims' groups said did not go far enough.

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S.Abdullah--SF-PST