Sri Lanka, April 23 -- The Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, departed for the Vatican this morning to attend the funeral of His Holiness, Pope Francis, which will be held this Saturday (26).

Following the Pope's funeral, Cardinal Ranjith is expected to participate in the conclave to appoint the new pope.

Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Monday (21) at the age of 88 from a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia.

His funeral, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place at 10.00 a.m. on Saturday (26) in the square in front of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Published by HT Digital Con...