Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

VATICAN CITY AP Cardinals have taken their first decisions following the death of Pope Francis setting Saturday as the date for his funeral and allowing ordinary faithful to begin paying their final respects starting Wednesday when his casket is brought into St Peter s Basilica The cardinals met for the first time Tuesday in the Vatican s synod hall to chart the next initiatives before a conclave begins to choose Francis successor as condolences poured in from around the world grieving history s first Latin American pope The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at a m in St Peter s Square to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re U S President Donald Trump has broadcasted he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend Saturday s funeral Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected Francis died Monday at age after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led his heart to fail He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia He made his last masses appearance Sunday delivering an Easter blessing and making what would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile looping around St Peter s Square In retrospect his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March was a perfect bookend to a -year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest He gave himself to the end explained Cardinal Matteo Zuppi the head of the Italian bishops conference and considered a viable contender to be next pope To go out to meet everyone speak to everyone teach us to speak to everyone to bless everyone The first images of Francis body were disclosed Tuesday showing him in the wooden casket in red vestments and his bishop s miter with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died In his final will Francis validated he would be buried at St Mary Major basilica which is outside the Vatican and home to his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary Before and after every foreign trip Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary draped in a blue robe holding the infant Jesus who in turn holds a jeweled golden book Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March after his -day hospital stay to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon He returned April to pray before the Madonna for the last time The world reacts Bells tolled in chapels churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half staff in Italy India Taiwan and the U S after Francis death was broadcasted by the Vatican camerlengo Soccer matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the Argentine pope who was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity Like every Argentine I think he was a rebel stated -year-old Catalina Favaro who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation He may have been contradictory but that was nice too In East Timor where Francis final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of the population last September President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis courage Papa Francisco was a brave man who was not afraid to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war but do not want to seek peace Ramos-Horta announced He challenged the powerful to act with justice called nations to welcome the stranger and reminded us that our common home this Earth is a gift we must protect for future generations commented Nigeria s President Bola Tinubu who is Muslim Nigeria is Africa s majority populous country and has around million Catholics representing about of the total population Viewing the pope s coffin The pope s formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace and in the Santa Marta hotel were sealed Monday evening following a centuries-old ritual Cardinal Kevin Farrell who as camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause was determined presided over the rituals Francis chose not to live in the palace though but in a two-room suite in Santa Marta on the other side of Vatican City He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby where the private viewing was being held Tuesday for Vatican authorities and members of the pontifical household In changes made by Francis last year his body was not placed in three wooden coffins as it had been for previous popes Rather Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside Once in St Peter s his coffin will not be put on an elevated bier but will just be be placed only facing the pews with the Paschal candle nearby He was a pope who didn t change his path when it came to getting dirty Francis vicar for Rome Cardinal Baldassarre Reina disclosed in a Mass in his honor For him poor people and newcomers were the sacrament of Jesus Choosing the next pope After the funeral there are nine days of official mourning known as the novendiali During this period cardinals arrive in Rome and meet privately before the conclave To give everyone time to assemble the conclave must begin - days after the sede vacante the vacant See is declared although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree Once the conclave begins cardinals vote in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel After voting sessions the ballots are burned in a special stove Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins If he accepts his referendum is publicized by a cardinal from the loggia of St Peter s Basilica who tells the world Habemus Papam Latin for We have a pope