VATICAN CITY: Tens of thousands of people flocked to the Vatican on Friday (Apr 25) for a last glimpse of Pope Francis’ open coffin, as world leaders and other guests began arriving for his funeral.
Around 150,000 people had paid their last respects to the Argentine pontiff by midday on Friday, seven hours before the end of three days of lying in state at St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said.
The wooden coffin, in which the pope lies wearing a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes, with a rosary laced around his fingers, will be closed in a private ceremony at 8pm (6pm GMT).
More than 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs are expected to attend Saturday’s funeral, alongside around 200,000 mourners.
“We love the pope, we feel blessed to see him a last (time),” Michelle Alcaide, 35, from the Philippines, as she queued to file past the pope’s coffin on Friday.
Vast crowds of people packed Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue leading to the Vatican, pilgrims and tourists mingling with Italians enjoying the Apr 25 public holiday.
“What a great man! He loved everyone, every religion,” said 53-year-old Italian Igho Felici, adding: “I had to be here.”
Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St Peter’s under tight security with drones blocked, snipers on roofs and fighter jets on standby.
Further checkpoints will be activated on Friday night, police said.
“INTIMATE MOMENT”
For a second night in a row, the Vatican kept St Peter’s open past the scheduled hours to accommodate the queues, only closing the doors between 2.30am and 5.40am on Friday.
“Night is the most intimate moment, the Lord always manifests himself at night,” said Nicoletta Tomassetti, 60, who visited the basilica in the very early hours of Friday morning.
“It was very emotional. In prayer, I asked the pope for some things and I know he will give them to me,” she told AFP.
The Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope died on Monday aged 88, less than a month after spending weeks in hospital fighting severe pneumonia.
“It was like saying goodbye to a father who “loved me and will continue to love me … and more than before”, said Filipa Castronovo, 76, an Italian nun, after seeing the coffin on Friday.
Visitors to St Peter’s reported waiting hours to enter. “Whatever happens, we have to get inside,” said Ian Delmonte, 35, also from the Philippines.
