After the mourning, cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Many of Francis’s reforms angered traditionalists, while his criticism of injustices, from the treatment of migrants to the damage wrought by global warming, riled many world leaders.
Yet the former archbishop of Buenos Aires’s compassion and charisma earned him global affection and respect.
Trump’s administration drew the pontiff’s ire for its mass deportation of migrants, but the president arrived late on Friday with his wife Melania to pay tribute to “a good man” who “loved the world”.
Making the first foreign trip of his second term, Trump will meet dozens of leaders from other countries keen to bend his ear over a trade war he unleashed, among other subjects.
Nothing has been revealed yet, but Zelensky has stated that he hopes to meet with him, which would be their first meeting since their confrontation in the White House in February.
Along with Presidents Javier Milei of Argentina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Joseph Aoun of Lebanon, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden is also attending the funeral.
Prince William of Britain will be among the more than a dozen royals in attendance.
