Members of the public inside the vast St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican patiently wait their turn Thursday to spend a few moments paying their last respects to the late Pope Francis as his body lies in state. Photo by Massimo Percossi/EPA-EFE
Vatican authorities kept St. Peter’s Basilica open all night as an estimated 50,000 people lined up around St. Peter’s Square and out of the Vatican City into Rome for a chance to view the body of Pope Francis as it lies in state in the 16th-century basilica.
The basilica had been scheduled to close for the night at midnight, but officials made the decision to keep it open so as not to have to turn away people waiting in line with about 13,000 people filing past Francis’ coffin in front of the main altar between midnight and 5:30 a.m., the Vatican said.
St. Peter’s then closed for around 90 minutes before reopening at 7 a.m. Francis’ body is due to lie-in-state through 7 p.m. Friday, after which Vatican camerlengo Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the church and man in charge of funeral arrangements, will lead the closing of the coffin in preparation for Francis’ funeral Saturday morning.
On Thursday, the Holy See published the official order of service for Francis’ funeral mass, an 88-page document, for the 88-year-old’s final send-off in St. Peter’s Square due to be attended by many world leaders and dignitaries and tens of thousands of members of the public.
Security is expected to be tight for the funeral, which will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, assisted by patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests from across the Catholic global community.
Reports from journalists on the ground described tourists and Catholic believers from as far afield as Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Ukraine, Mexico and the United States waiting in orderly lines for four to six hours in the sun before being ushered inside into the cool of the cavernous St. Peter’s Basilica.
“What’s striking is how quiet it is in here given how many thousands of people there are. Occasionally, a baby cries. But by and large it’s all very quiet, and very solemn,” the BBC’s reporter wrote.
The funeral will mark the end of five days of national mourning in Italy, after which Francis’ coffin will be transferred to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.
Francis died Easter Monday at his official residence in the Casa Santa Marta building, where he lived, a day after going against doctors’ orders to greet a huge Easter Sunday gathering of Catholics in St. Peter’s Square whom he did not want to disappoint.
