Trump will head to Rome for Pope’s funeral

U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to leave Washington on Friday morning to fly to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral services. He’ll return Saturday evening, once services are over. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the president’s travel plans during her briefing with reporters on Tuesday. She did not provide details on if Trump will meet with foreign leaders during the trip, or who might travel with him as part of a US delegation. The White House says more details on travel will be coming. The Vatican opened St Peter’s Basilica to the general public Wednesday to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, with thousands of people filling the central aisle and Swiss Guards standing at attention. Francis’ body will lie in state in the basilica until Saturday’s funeral and burial. The public mourning period began at 11 am after Francis’ casket was transported from the Vatican hotel where he lived to the basilica. The procession of cardinals and bishops brought Francis through the same piazza where he gave what became his final salute in his popemobile on Easter Sunday. Francis died on Monday at age 88. The bells of St Peter’s tolled Wednesday as the body of Pope Francis was transferred from the Vatican hotel where he lived to the basilica, escorted by a procession of solemn cardinals and Swiss Guards through the same piazza where he had greeted the faithful from his popemobile just days before in what became his final good-bye. Pallbearers carried the simple wooden coffin on their shoulders through the Vatican’s archway gates, out into St Peter’s Square and into the basilica, the cardinals in their scarlet cassocks and the Swiss Guards in their golden and blue uniforms processing slowly behind. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is running the Vatican temporarily until a new pope is elected, led the procession, with clouds of incense preceding him as the church choir began chanting the Litany of Saints hymn. Heads of state a