President Donald Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump would be attending Pope Francis’s funeral after the Vatican announced early Monday that the Pope had died at the age of 88.
“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “We look forward to being there!”
As Breitbart News previously reported, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had died on Easter Monday after leading the Catholic Church for 12 years.
A papal conclave will gather in order to select a successor and a new Pontiff.
Per Breitbart News:
A papal conclave will now be convened although its resemblance to the one popularised in last year’s Oscar-nominated film starring Ralph Fiennes is more in name than process.
The gathering to select a successor to Pope Francis brings together an assembly of cardinals to elect a new spiritual leader based on the system of strict seclusion to which they submit for the election process.
In early April, Pope Francis was reported to have made “a surprise entrance to St. Peter’s Square during a special Jubilee Mass for the sick and health workers.” The appearance was the first “public appearance at the Vatican since he was discharged” from the hospital two weeks prior.
In late March, Pope Francis returned to the Vatican after having spent five weeks in the hospital due to a “life-threatening bout of pneumonia.”
In response to the news of the Pope’s death, Trump offered condolences via Truth Social: “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!”
