Mourners stood in line for hours on Thursday to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, whose body is lying in state in St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral on Saturday.
Huge queues snaked around St. Peter's Square and the surrounding roads, before being funneled through the heart of the basilica in a single column leading to the central altar, where Francis' open-topped coffin is placed on a dais.
The viewing started on Wednesday and the Vatican had expected to close the doors at midnight, but ended up letting the faithful in until 5:30 a.m., before reopening again at 7 a.m.
"After 3-1/2 hours in line, we had sore feet and tired legs. But we did see Francis, and the experience, while exhausting, was spiritually affirming," said Richard Lamb of New Jersey in the U.S., visiting with his wife Peggy, both devout Catholics.
"We walked with groups from Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Poland, the U.S., the Philippines ... it was a long, sublime experience," he said.
Francis died aged 88 on Monday morning in his rooms at the Vatican's Santa Marta guesthouse, ending an often turbulent, 12-year reign in which he sought to overhaul a divided institution, battling with traditionalists who opposed his many changes.
"He was a wonderful pope," said Rome resident Alessandra Caccamo, as she queued outside the Vatican. "I'm going to miss him so much, because it's like I've lost a piece of me."
By 7 p.m. more than 90,000 people had paid their respects, Vatican officials said.
There was no stopping for a lingering view once the faithful got to the foot of the coffin, which was flanked by Swiss Guards in red-plumed helmets, as ushers swiftly moved people on.
Only clerics and special guests were allowed to sit for a while on pews set up on either side of the casket, including players from the city's AS Roma soccer team, all wearing matching dark suits.
FUNERAL PLANS
More than 130 delegations, with 50 heads of state, including U.S. President Donald Trump, and 10 reigning monarchs are expected in St. Peter's Square for Saturday's funeral, the Vatican said, with millions more expected to watch on television across the globe.
Authorities in Rome started ramping up security ahead of the ceremony. A police source told Reuters snipers would be placed on rooftops, with drones watching from the sky and an army device readied to neutralize hostile flying objects.
A conclave to choose a new pontiff cannot start before May 6. Cardinals gathering in Rome have assumed temporary control of the Church, each taking an oath of secrecy not to reveal their discussions about a future pope.
This does not stop the powerful prelates from talking to reporters about their vision for the 1.4-billion member Church.
"A chapter in the Church's history has been closed," Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller told Italian daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Thursday.
Mueller is one of the 135 cardinals eligible to vote in the secret conclave. A former head of the Vatican's doctrine office, Mueller is known for his traditionalist views and often clashed with Francis.
The German cardinal said that there was "unanimous appreciation" for the late pope's work on migrants and the poor. However he said that the task was to choose a successor to St. Peter, the first pope, rather than Francis, indicating he favored a change of direction.
The Vatican said on Thursday a group of "poor and needy" had been invited to welcome the pope's casket to Rome's St. Mary Major -- a church some 4 km from St. Peter's where, in a break from tradition, Francis wanted to be buried.
"The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God," the Vatican said.
The heart of Rome is expected to be closed to traffic on Saturday to allow the funeral motorcade to make its way slowly to St. Mary Major, giving Romans a chance to say a final farewell.
His tomb will be in a niche in a side aisle of the basilica, with just the word "Franciscus", his name in Latin, engraved on the marble.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
4 Comments
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HopeSpringsEternal
Pople Francis, man of Peace and encouraged all leaders to talk rather than pursue war. Due to his leadership countless numbers of Catholics in Ukraine have been safely resettled into other mainly other parts of Europe.
Above, why the world's leaders will gather at his funeral tomorrow, as Pope Francis had a huge influence on especially US and European Catholics to oppose the war in Ukraine and all wars = Peace Maker Legacy, RIP!!
wallace
HopeSpringsEternal
You keep posting about Ukrainian Catholics. They are only 10% of the 38 million population.
Approximately 7 million Ukrainian refugees have fled their homes due to the ongoing conflict, with most residing in Europe. The majority of these refugees, around 6.3 million, are in Europe, including those who have sought refuge in Russia and Belarus.
HopeSpringsEternal
High majority of Ukrainians are Christian, and many attend services, especially prior to the war at a variety of denominations and are therefore non-denominational.
Ukraine population numbers impossible to track, they say almost no civilians have been killed in the war and very few soldiers. People like Pope Francis knew much better, because he had MANY Representatives there.
DJT always says, number of civilian Ukrainians that have perished due to war FAR higher than reported/fake news. Reality is Ukraine's population's depopulating FAR Faster than Japan today with a Much Smaller Base.
Pope Francis had huge impact on turning Voter Opinion against War in Ukraine AND Saving Lives in Ukraine, and understood the real cost of war, RIP!
wallace
HopeSpringsEternal
Not difficult to check.
The majority of the population identifies as Christian, with the largest denominations being Eastern Orthodoxy and Ukrainian Greek Catholic (UGCC).
Eastern Orthodoxy 72 (71.2%) · Catholicism 10 (9.89%) · Protestantism 2 (1.98%) · Other Christian 2 (1.98%) · Islam 1 (0.99%)
For many Ukrainians, the Pope's legacy is shaped by his repeated downplaying of the gravity of Ukraine's fight for its survival in Russia's war
Francis repeatedly called for an end to the fighting, refusing to acknowledge the responsibility of Vladimir Putin and Russia.