World leaders to attend Pope Francis' funeral Saturday

ATHENS
Leaders of numerous states will attend the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, Italian media reported Tuesday.

Among those who will be attending are US President Donald Trump; French President Emmanuel Macron; EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; German president and chancellor, Frank Walter Steinmeier and Olaf Scholz, respectively.; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Argentinian President Javier Gerardo Milei and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the public broadcaster RAI.

Italian media, citing Vatican sources, announced that the body of the pope is expected to be transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday for the faithful to pay their respects.

The conclave that will elect the new pope is expected to take place between May 6 and May 10, but can occur earlier if all cardinals are present in Rome, it added.

The leader of the Catholic Church was born in Buenos Aires on Dec. 17, 1936, to Italian immigrant parents.

He studied in Argentina and later in Germany before being ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1969.

Over a decade into his papacy, Pope Francis remained a figure of admiration and controversy.

He sought to reform the Vatican’s bureaucracy, tackle corruption, and address some of the church’s most pressing challenges.

The pope was admitted to a hospital in Rome in February with bronchitis, which developed into bilateral pneumonia. He was discharged after 38 days to continue his recovery at his Vatican residence.

Pope Francis died on Monday at the age of 88.