400,000 BID FAREWELL TO POPE IN VATICAN

Hundreds of thousands of mourners joined world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, to bid farewell on Saturday to Pope Francis, a champion of the poor who strived to forge a more compassionate Catholic church.

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The Vatican said 400,000 people packed St Peter's Square and lined the streets of Rome for the funeral of the first Latin American leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

On behalf of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, attended the funeral of Pope Francis.

Alongside Sheikh Khaled, the funeral was also attended by Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence; Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Crown Prince's Office at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Maryam Eid AlMheiri, Chairperson of the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

After a solemn funeral, the Argentine pontiff's plain wooden coffin - a testament to a life of humility - was driven slowly to Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore church, where he was interred in a private ceremony.

Cardinals marked his coffin with red wax seals before it was lowered into a tomb set inside an alcove, according to images released by the Vatican.