- Francis has reshaped the church, faces a traditionalist decline.
- The funeral break the tradition, burial outside the Vatican.
- Presidents of the United States, France, Argentina among VIPs.
City du Vatican: Royalty, Presidents, Prime Ministers and a Legion of faithful will pay their last tribute to Pope Francis on Saturday during a funeral mass on Saint-Pierre square to honor its sometimes turbulent papacy.
Among those who attend more than 150 countries will be the American president Donald Trump, who clashed with Francis on numerous occasions on their positions which contrast on immigration.
The Argentinian pope died on Monday, at the age of 88, following a stroke, inaugurating a meticulously planned transition period for the Roman Catholic church of 1.4 million dollars, marked by a ritual, an old pump and mourning.
In the past three days, around 250,000 people have exceeded his body, which had been set up in a coffin in front of the altar of the 16th century cavernous basilica.
Its coffin will be transported by the main doors on Saturday for the outdoor funerals, which begins at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT), with ranged ranks of foreign dignitaries on one side of the stone colonnade, facing hundreds of red hateful cardinals on opposite banks of seats.
Alongside Trump, the presidents of Argentina, France, Gabon, Germany, Italy, Philippines, Poland and Ukraine, with the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and New Zealand, and many members of the European Royal Family.
The Vatican claims that some 250,000 mourning will fill the vast paved path and the main access route to the basilica to follow the ceremony, which will be chaired by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, an Italian prelate of 91 years.
The first non -European pope for almost 13 centuries, Francis fought to reshape the Roman Catholic Church during his reign of 12 years, is stunned with the poor and marginalized, while putting rich nations to help migrants and reverse climate change.
“Francis has left everyone a wonderful testimony of humanity, a holy life and universal paternity,” said an official summary of his papacy, written in Latin, and placed next to his body.
The traditionalists rejected his efforts to make the Church more transparent, while his calls for the end of conflicts, divisions and rampant capitalism often fell into the ears of a deaf.
Break with tradition
The Pope avoided a large part of the pump and the privilege generally associated with the papacy during his reign, and will carry this desire for greater simplicity in his funeral, after having rewritten the elaborate and long funeral rites used previously.
While the funeral of Pope Jean-John Paul in 2005 lasted three hours, the service on Saturday should take 90 minutes.
Francis also chose to give up a secular practice of burying the popes in three coffins nested in cypress, lead and oak. Instead, it was placed in a single zinc -line wood coffin, which was sealed closed overnight.
In a new break with tradition, he will be the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican for more than a century, preferring the basilica of Rome de St. Mary Major, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) of Saint-Pierre, like his last place of rest.
His tomb comes from “Franciscus”, his name in Latin, written on top. A reproduction of the simple and iron-plated cross which he wore around his neck is suspended above the marble slab.
His funeral motorcycles will lead him through the city for a last time, allowing the Romans to say their farewells.
Italy has closed the airspace above the city and called additional forces, with anti-aircraft missiles and patrol boats keeping the event in one of the largest security operations that the country has seen since the funeral of John Paul II.
As soon as Francis is buried, the attention will pass to who could succeed him.
It is unlikely that the secret conclave to elect a successor begins before May 6, and may not start for several days after that, giving the cardinals time to hold regular meetings in advance to summarize and assess the state of the church, assailed by financial problems and ideological divisions.
