WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump and his White House predecessor Joe Biden led the way in paying respects from the United States (US) to Pope Francis, who died Monday at 88.

Trump, who has had a sometimes thorny relationship with the Vatican, ordered US flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and at federal property across the world.

“He was a good man, he worked hard and loved the world,” Trump said at a White House event marking Easter.

He had earlier posted on social media: “Rest in Peace, Pope Francis! May God bless him and all who loved him!”

Biden, who was only the second Roman Catholic to serve as US president, hailed the late pope as “unlike any who came before him”.

“Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time, and I am better for having known him,” Biden wrote on X alongside a picture of him and the Pope.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, said he was “saddened” and added, “We unite in prayer with Catholics worldwide for the repose of the pontiff’s soul and for this period of transition for the Catholic Church.”

There were also statements from top congressional leaders, with senior Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer citing the late pope’s “compassion and love for the less fortunate”.

“His papacy will be remembered as a beacon of light and hope against the darkness. My prayers are with the billions of people today who are mourning his loss.”

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said the pope had “humbly” served the poor and recalled a 2015 address by Pope Francis to a joint session of Congress as a “triumphant, bipartisan” event.