Pope Francis' funeral begins at 10am on April 26 (local time) or 3pm April 26 (Vietnam time). Photo: Reuters

At 10am Saturday (local time), the funeral mass of Pope Francis was presided over by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, at St. Peter's Square, Vatican. Among the attending mourners were more than 170 international delegations and 50 world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

250,000 mourners packed the square and millions of faithful around the world watched online. About 2,400 Italian police officers were deployed to the mass.

World leaders including US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish King Felipe attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 26. Photo: Reuters

The funeral began with a hymn as Pope Francis' coffin was carried from St. Peter's Basilica to St. Peter's Square. In his homily at the Pope's funeral, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, said, “Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life. The final image we have of him, which will remain etched in our memory, is that of last Sunday, Easter Sunday, when Pope Francis, despite his serious health problems, wanted to give us his blessing from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica. He then came down to this Square to greet the large crowd gathered for the Easter Mass while riding in the open-top Popemobile.”

“With our prayers, we now entrust the soul of our beloved Pontiff to God, that he may grant him eternal happiness in the bright and glorious gaze of his immense love.”

"He established direct contact with individuals and peoples, eager to be close to everyone, with a marked attention to those in difficulty, giving himself without measure, especially to the marginalized, the least among us. He was a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone," Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re eulogized.

Aerial view of Pope Francis' funeral. Photo: Reuters

At the funeral, the Cardinals read prayers in seven languages – Italian, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, German and Chinese. This is the first time Chinese was used at a Pope's funeral. Cardinals, world leaders and the public performed a ritual of shaking hands with those around them, saying "Peace be with you."

Pope Francis died on April 21, at the age of 88. During his 12 years of Papacy, he maintained a neutral stance on major conflicts, consistently advocating for peace and promoting dialogue as a means of resolving disputes.