CNN has outlined its plans to cover the funeral of Pope John Paul II on CNN/US and CNN International this Friday.

"No other network rises to the occasions of such global importance as the death of Pope John Paul II as CNN does," said CNN president Jon Klein. "Our global resources enable us to place more anchors, correspondents and producers in place to cover this event and to effectively tell the story of this pope and how the world grieves for him."

Seven hours of non-stop live coverage will begin at 3am EDT on CNN/US and 8am BST on CNN International. CNN/US will replay the coverage during primetime beginning at 7pm EDT.

Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour, Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien will anchor the coverage from a specially-built set on the rooftop of the Collegio Urbano.