Vatican announces 3 days of public viewing for Pope Francis, followed by funeral on Saturday [Video]

Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square, Roman Catholic cardinals decided on Tuesday, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony that will draw leaders from around the world.

Meanwhile, the Vatican said in a statement that people will be able to pay their final respects to Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica from Wednesday through Friday. The pontiff, who died aged 88 on Monday, will lie in state inside his coffin.

The funeral service for the Pope will be held in St. Peter’s Square, in the shadow of the Basilica, on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals.

Francis’s body will be taken into the adjacent St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time, in a procession led by cardinals. Catholic faithful and the …