VATICAN HAS ANNOUNCED THAT POPE FRANCIS’S FUNERAL WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY, AS WORLD LEADERS FROM US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP TO UKRAINE’S VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY SAID THEY WOULD ATTEND TO HONOUR THE CATHOLIC LEADER.

THE ARGENTINE PONTIFF, 88, DIED ON MONDAY FROM 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 10:00AM ON SATURDAY IN THE SQUARE IN FRONT OF ST. PETER’S BASILICA AT THE VATICAN BEFORE HEADING TO ROME BASILICA OF SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE FOR BURIAL.

THE DATE WAS SET BY THE FIRST “GENERAL CONGREGATION” OF CARDINALS TODAY, WHICH KICKED OFF A CENTURIES-OLD PROCESS THAT CULMINATES IN THE ELECTION OF A NEW PONTIFF WITHIN THREE WEEKS.