Cardinals will meet next month to pick Francis' successor, deciding if the new pope should continue with the late pontiff's push for a more open Church or cede to conservatives who want to return to a more traditional papacy.

Former President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will among those attending Saturday's funeral for Pope Francis in Vatican City.

Francis, who took his name after Saint Francis of Assisi, was known for his outreach to the poor and those in poverty and that will be reflected in his minimalist burial at Saint Mary Major. He is the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in over a century and the first to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore in more than 300 years.