Pope Francis's funeral today

The funeral of the late spiritual leader of the Catholic Christians, Pope Francis (88), will be held today (Saturday).

The ceremony will take place at 10am local time in the open square in front of St Peter’s Basilica. World leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, will be present at the Vatican to pay their last respects.

Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday of a brain hemorrhage after a five-week hospital stay with pneumonia.

The ceremony, attended by the highest religious figures in the Church, will be led by Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals. At the end of the funeral, he will recite the "Prayer of Final Confession," formally entrusting the pope to God. The pope's body will then be taken to Rome's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried.

According to Catholic tradition, a pope is usually buried in St Peter's Square within four to six days of his death. However, Pope Francis has said several times during his lifetime that he wants his funeral to be low-key. He will be the first Catholic pontiff in a century to be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, instead of in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Pope Francis has also avoided pomp and circumstance when it comes to his burial. He wants to be buried in a simple wooden coffin. Where previous popes were buried in three-tiered coffins made of cypress, cedar and oak.

World leaders and royals have arrived in Rome to attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Fifty heads of state and 10 monarchs representing 130 countries are expected to attend the event in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. Among them are US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the kings and queens of Spain and Belgium, Britain's Prince William and many others.