Tens of thousands of mourners flooded into St Peter’s Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the champion of the poor and the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader.

Some people waited overnight to be first in the queue for the ceremony, attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky — who may meet on the sidelines, a senior official told AFP.

The Argentine pontiff, who died on Monday aged 88, sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy.

Some 250,000 people paid their respects before his coffin during its three days of lying in state at St Peter’s Basilica, and huge numbers gathered from dawn on Friday to attend his final send-off.

“He was not just the pope, he was what the definition of being human is,” said Andrea Ugalde, 39, who flew from Los Angeles to attend Saturday’s mass.

The ceremony is due to begin at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) and is expected to draw some 200,000 people.

Italian and Vatican authorities have mounted a major security operation for the ceremony, with more than 50 heads of state on the guest list.

A no-fly zone is in place, fighter jets are on standby, and snipers will be positioned on roofs surrounding the tiny city-state.

“We spent the whole night here in the car with the children,” said Peruvian Gabriela Lazo, 41.

“We are very sorry for what happened to him because we hold a South American pope in our hearts.”

The funeral sets off the first of nine days of official Vatican mourning for Francis, who took over following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

After the mourning, cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Many of Francis’s reforms angered traditionalists, while his criticism of injustices, from the treatment of migrants to the damage wrought by global warming, riled many world leaders.

Yet the former archbishop of Buenos Aires’s compassion and charisma earned him global affection and respect.

Trump’s administration drew the pontiff’s ire for its mass deportation of migrants, but the president arrived late on Friday with his wife, Melania, to pay tribute to “a good man” who “loved the world”.

Making the first foreign trip of his second term, Trump will be alongside dozens of leaders from other countries keen to bend his ear over a trade war he unleashed, among other subjects.

Zelensky has expressed hope for a meeting, in what would be their first since their White House showdown in February, and a senior official told AFP “the two presidents could meet”.

Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, attended, alongside UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the funeral, while presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Lebanon’s Joseph Aoun were also expected.

More than a dozen royals, including Britain’s Prince William, will also be present.



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