Pope’s body to be put on display as funeral preparations continue ...Middle East

Pope Francis’s body will be laid out for public view on Wednesday as mourners flock to the Vatican ahead of his funeral.

The late pontiff, who died on Easter Monday aged 88, will be buried on Saturday in a service that will be attended by both the Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Kensington Palace confirmed on Tuesday that William, a future head of the Church of England, will attend on behalf of the King.

Sir Keir, who will join other leaders including US President Donald Trump at the funeral, told reporters on Tuesday the Pope was “a quite remarkable man, and the work and commitment that he put into fairness over so many years, and globally, I think will be a real lasting legacy”.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said it is “right, like other world leaders are, that he (Sir Keir) pays tribute to his life and attends his funeral”.

The Pope will lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica from Wednesday morning before a funeral mass is held at 10am local time (9am BST) in St Peter’s Square on Saturday.

Large queues are expected to form, with the body likely to be on display 24 hours a day, according to expert Joe Ronan, who works with the Catholic Voices media charity.

In changes made by the Pope last year, his body has been placed in a simpler wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside, rather than in three wooden coffins as was previously tradition.

His casket will not be put on an elevated platform in St Peter’s Basilica, as was the case with past popes, but will instead be placed simply facing the pews.

Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell – the camerlengo or senior Vatican official – will carry out the administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until a new pope takes over.

There is a nine-day period of mourning following the funeral, after which the secretive meeting known as the conclave to elect a new pope begins in the Sistine Chapel.

Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who held mass for Francis at Westminster Cathedral on Monday, is among those travelling to Rome.

With PA

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