Cardinals were due to meet on Tuesday to plan Pope Francis’ funeral, which leaders from around the world will attend ahead of a conclave next month to elect a new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Francis, 88, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.
The pontiff spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year for double pneumonia.
Pope Francis in his open coffin in the Vatican on April 22, 2025. VATICAN MEDIA/AFP via Getty Images
But he returned to his Vatican home almost a month ago and had seemed to be recovering, appearing in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
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