The Latest Breaking News from Rome

Tens of thousands of people visited the Vatican on Friday for a last glimpse of Pope Francis's open coffin, before his funeral on Saturday. Italian authorities have stepped up security to protect the more than 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs expected to attend, alongside around 200,000 mourners.

Dozens of heads of state – some of whom had better relations with the pope than others – will be in attendance.

"Romans would 'consult' sacred chickens before battle to see if they should proceed."

Pope Francis' image seemed to be everywhere Friday as the world mournedhis death in Rome at the age of 88.

Rocks from Greenland found on Iceland's west coast could link the late Roman Empire's fall to a spell of sudden climate change. But historians say that the real story is likely much more complicated.

With hundreds of thousands of mourners and 130 official delegations expected, the security measures for the late pontiff's funeral are among the most extensive ever arrayed in Rome.

US President Donald Trump headed to Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the unexpected first foreign trip of his second term in which he will face foreign leaders including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.

The coffin will be closed on Friday evening ahead of Saturday’s requiem mass.

The Sinn Fein vice president has cut short a family holiday to attend Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome.

More than 130,000 people have filed past the Pope's coffin as it lay in state in St Peter's Basilica since Wednesday

Arriving in Rome after Pope Francis's death, Catholic cardinals have admitted some apprehension at the responsibility of choosing his successor, as they begin setting out what they hope to see in the next head of the Church.