Thousands of mourners burst into sustained but subdued applause Wednesday as a casket with the body of Pope Francis was held aloft on a wooden platform and carried from his residence across St. Peter’s Square to an iconic basilica by 14 white-gloved, black-suited pallbearers.

The body of the 88-year-old pope will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica until Friday evening, allowing the faithful to say a final goodbye to the humble yet forceful pontiff whose reign was marked by clashes with the powerful and unrelenting support for the marginalized.

“Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow we now accompany the mortal remains of our Pope Francis to the Vatican Basilica,” said the Irish-American Cardinal Kevin Farrell as the ceremony began in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.

“As we now leave this home, let us thank the Lord for the countless gifts he bestowed on the Christian people through his servant, Pope Francis,” Farrell said. “Let us ask him, in his mercy and kindness, to grant to the late pope an eternal home in the kingdom of heaven, and to comfort with the celestial hope the papal family, the Church in Rome, and the faithful throughout the world.”

A crowd estimated at more than 20,000 people gathered in the square to view the procession. Maria Pia Caruso travelled to Rome from her home in northern Italy to say pay respets to a pope she said brought important changes to the global Catholic Church.

“Let’s hope that his successor continues with these changes and there is no going back,” she said.

On Saturday, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the funeral Mass, which will be celebrated by patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests from around the world, the Vatican said. The funeral starts nine days of mourning.

Francis, an Argentinian and the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not St. Peter’s, where many of his predecessors were laid to rest.

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Cardinals in charge until a pope is selected

A commission of three cardinals selected by lot assists the Vatican “Camerlengo” − Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who normally oversees the property and finances of the pope − in governing the church until a new pope is selected, the Vatican says. These three cardinals represent the three orders of the College of Cardinals and are replaced every three days.

The Vatican announced the first group of three cardinals are Pietro Parolin (episcopal order), Stanisław Ryłko (presbyteral order) and Fabio Baggio (diaconal order).

A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before May 6. As of Monday, there were 252 cardinals, of whom 135 are electors, according to the Vatican. Cardinals over the age of 80 are excluded from voting.

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Trump, other world leaders expected for funeral

President Donald Trump will fly from Washington, D.C., for the pope’s funeral Friday morning and return to the U.S. on Saturday evening afterward, the White House announced. Britain’s Prince William will attend the funeral on behalf of King Charles, Kensington Palace said. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also will attend.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres will also attend, his office said. Javier Milei, president of Francis’ native Argentina, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were among other heads of state who said they would attend.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would not be attending and that he did immediately know who would represent him. China’s Foreign Ministry said it had no information on plans for Chinese representation.

Contributing: Reuters