Photos of Pope Francis' funeral

Vatican City (AP) – From some of the most powerful leaders in the world to those on the margins of society to whom Pope Francis always made a point, hungry of thousands of people was expected in the Vatican Saturday for funeral rites until the last times.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, and another 60 heads of state and reigning sovereign announced their plans to travel to Rome from all over the world. The Vatican said that “a group of the poor and those in need” would be on the steps of the Basilica Mayor of Santa Maria to pay tribute to the first Jesuit Pope and first Latin American before their funeral in the church.

The Santa Headquarters press office added that the poor had a special place in Francis’s heart. He had chosen for his papacy the name of the medieval Italian saint who resigned from his family’s wealth when he joined the Church.

Already, long lines of the faithful have paid tribute to Francis, who died Monday at age 88, during the three days that his body was in a state in a simple wooden coffin inside the Basilica of San Pedro.

From the beginning of his papacy in 2013, Francis won around many worldwide, Catholic or not, with his defense for migrants and the environment. His legacy was more mixed on the issues of the sexual abuse of the clergy and the LGBTQ+dissemination, which made waves to increase inclusion, but some criticized for not going far enough.