Vatican welcomes world leaders for farewell for Francis

More than 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will descend on St Peter’s Square this weekend as the Catholic Church lays Pope Francis to rest. 

Francis, who died this week at age 88 of a stroke at the Vatican, will be buried later Saturday after the funeral.

World leaders including US President Donald Trump, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, French President Emmanual Macron, Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be attending.

The Vatican said Thursday at least 130 foreign delegations had confirmed their attendance at the high-profile event, which will be broadcast live across the world.

Italian authorities have placed the area around St Peter's under tight security ahead of Saturday's ceremony in front of the basilica that is expected to draw huge crowds.

Authorities have put fighter jets on standby, deployed electromagnetic devices to prevent drones from flying over the city and will have snipers stationed on rooftops.

Further check-points will be activated on Friday night, police said.

Italy's civil protection agency estimates that "several hundred thousand" people will descend on Rome.

Following the Pope’s burial, a conclave of cardinals is convened to elect the late Argentine pontiff’s successor. 

The Argentine pontiff died of "cerebral stroke, coma, irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse", according to a death certificate released this week by the Vatican.

Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed the most vulnerable in society.

Huge crowds

Tens of thousands of mourners and faithful have flocked to the Vatican to catch a last glimpse of Francis' body prior to Saturday’s farewell. 

More than 100,000 people had filed past the late Catholic leader's red-lined wooden coffin in the first day and a half that it lay in state at St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.

Long queues were seen as the Catholic faithful braved drizzle to say their goodbye. Such was the demand that Vatican authorities extended visiting hours.

"It was a brief but intense moment next to his body," said Italian citizen Massimo Palo, 63.

"He was a pope amongst his flock, amongst his people, and I hope the next papacies will be a bit like his," he added.

Florencia Soria and Ana Sofía Alicata, both 26 and – like Francis – from Argentina, came prepared for a long wait with coffees and wondered whether the light rain might work in their favour.

"We're here and we hope it will go as well as possible, with people leaving because of the rain," joked Soria, although the sun soon returned.

No conclave date yet

After the funeral, Francis' coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome's papal basilica of Santa María Maggiore.

A group of "poor and needy" will be at the basilica to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.

A simple, marble tomb will mark the pontiff's last resting place, the Vatican said on Thursday, releasing an image of the project.

The tombstone will bear only the inscription "Franciscus" – the pontiff’s name in Latin – and its marble will be sourced from Liguria, the northwestern Italian region that was once home to the Pope’s Italian ancestors.

After he is laid to rest, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis' successor.

The starting date of the conclave, during which 135 so-called "cardinal electors" will choose Francis' successor, is not yet known. But it must begin no less than 15 and no more than 20 days after the death of the pope – thus between May 5 and May 10.

Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was Francois's number two, is the favourite with British bookmakers William Hill, ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila.

The cardinals will meet in the Sistine Chapel, a Renaissance jewel adorned with Michelangelo's celebrated frescoes, and hold four ballots a day – two in the morning and two in the afternoon – until one candidate wins two-thirds of the votes. 

At the end of each session, the ballots are burned in a stove by the chapel, releasing smoke above the Apostolic Palace as the world watches.

If black smoke billows from a chimney overlooking St Peter's Square, the vote has been unsuccessful. White smoke signals a new pope has been elected.