VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis` funeral will be held on Saturday, the Vatican announced, as world leaders from US President Donald Trump to Ukraine`s Volodymyr Zelensky said they would attend to honour the Catholic leader.

The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday from a stroke, less than a month after returning home from a five-week hospitalisation battling double pneumonia.

His funeral, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place on Saturday morning in the majestic Baroque plaza in front of St Peter`s Basilica at the Vatican.

Francis`s coffin, which he previously ordered should be of wood and zinc, will then be taken inside thechurch and from there to Rome`s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.

The first so-called `general congregation` of cardinals took place on Tuesday morning, kicking off a centuries-old process that culminates in the election of a new pontiff within three weeks.

The Vatican published the first images of the pontiff in his open coffin, wearing his red papal vestments, a mitre on his head and a rosary between his fingers.

The images came from a service in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy, and where he died. The coffin will be shifted to St Peter`s Basilica on Wednesday morning, to lie in state until Saturday`s funeral.

In St Peter`s Square, believers and tourists alike gathered to pay their respects, some bearing flowers or candles and with many lost in their thoughts.

Week of mourning Tributes have poured in fromaround the globe for Francis, a liberal reformer who took over following the resignation of German theologian Benedict XVI in 2013.

Trump was among the first to con-firm he would attend the funeral, even after Francis criticised his migrant deportations.

The US president said he and his wife, Melania, would attend the ceremony, adding in a social mediapost that `We look forward to being there!` `Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!` he said in another post.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will attend and the head of state King Charles III will join him.

Other expected guests include European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, France`s Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Zelensky and the Spanish royals.

Italy, which is preparing for a major security operation, declared five days of national mourning longer than the three days observedfor Pope John PaulIIin 2005.

Cardinals of all ages are invited to the general congregations, the second of which will be held on Wednesday.

Vote due in May At the first meeting, attended by around 60 cardinals, lots were drawn to pick three people to help the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, run the Vatican`s day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected.

Only those under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in the conclave, which should begin no less than 15 days and no more than 20 after the death of the pope meaning between May 5 and 10.

Speculation is already growing about who will take over from Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, who was the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit.

Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio in Corsica, told AFP as he arrived in Rome that it would be an `intense` time.

Francis, who during his papacy wore plain robes and eschewed the luxury of his predecessors, has opted for a simple tomb, unadorned except for his name in Latin, Franciscus, according to his will released on Monday.

In choosing to be buried in Rome`s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, he will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.-AFP