Srilanka, April 23 -- The Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, departed from Katunayake Airport today en route to Rome to attend the funeral of the late Pope Francis, an official at the airport confirmed.

In addition to the funeral, Cardinal Ranjith is expected to take part in the upcoming papal conclave to elect the next Pope.

He began his journey on Etihad Airways flight EY-393, departing for Abu Dhabi at 9:30 AM on April 23, from where he will continue on a connecting flight to Rome, Italy.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Daily News Sri Lanka....