Pope Francis Funeral Live: World Leaders, Mourners Gather In Rome To Bid Farewell

<p><strong>Pope Francis Funeral Live Updates:</strong> Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday earlier this week at the age of 88, will be laid to rest on Saturday at the St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The funeral will be attended by global leaders including US President Donald Trump, his wife Melania.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, UN Secretary General Ant&oacute;nio Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will be accompanied by Prince William will also be in attendance.&nbsp;</p>
<p>President Droupadi Murmu is also in Vatican City and will attend the funeral on India’s behalf. Union minister Kiren Rijiju and Minister of State for Minority Affairs George Kurian are accompanying President Murmu on her visit.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Pope Francis Funeral&nbsp;</h2>
<p>The funeral will start at 10 am local time (1:30 pm IST). Over two lakh mourners have paid their respect to the first non-European pope as his body lay in state in an open wooden coffin inside St Peter&rsquo;s Basilica.</p>
<p>Pope Francis, originally from Argentina, died after suffering a heart stroke on Easter Monday, April 21, just a day after he made a public appearance — what became his last one — to offer a blessing to the faithful at the high point of the Christian Calendar.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolence on the passing away of the pontiff. The Ministry of Home Affairs also announced three-day state mourning on April 22 and 23 and one-day state mourning on Saturday, on his funeral.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Pope Francis’s Last Message</h2>
<p>In his last Easter message, Pope Francis prayed for the people of Gaza saying, “There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.”</p>
<p>”What a great thirst for death, for killing we see in the many conflicts raging in different parts of the world,” the Pope said in the address.</p>