WORLD NEWS: THOUSANDS GATHER FOR SECOND DAY TO VIEW POPE FRANCIS

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Agency Report

On the second day of public tributes, thousands of people flocked to see Pope Francis’s body Thursday. St Peter’s Basilica remained open nearly all night to accommodate the masses.

By Thursday morning, the Vatican reported that 48,600 individuals had already made their way past the Catholic leader’s red-lined wooden coffin, despite four-hour wait periods to enter the church.

The basilica was supposed to close at midnight on Wednesday, but instead it stayed open until 5:30 am (0330 GMT) on Thursday before reopening at 7:00 am.

Amerigo Iacovacci, 82, was patiently waiting in the queue on Thursday morning, which extended well beyond the two entrances at St Peter’s Square.

“I’m here because of the great faith that unites me with Pope Francis,” said the Roman.

“He was a great man, he was the father of the least fortunate, of the invisible.”

After leading the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide for 12 years, Francis passed away on Monday. During that time, he gained notoriety as the pope of the underprivileged.

For his funeral in front of St Peter’s on Saturday, Italy is planning a large security operation.

World leaders are expected to join hundreds of thousands of mourners, including US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

The pope’s wooden casket, lined in crimson silk, is placed in front of St Peter’s altar. Francis is holding a rosary while wearing his papal robes, which include a red chasuble, white mitre, and black shoes.

In a matter of seconds, each mourner was led past the coffin, with several frantically recording the event on their phones.

Argentine Federico Rueda, 46, said that despite the rush, he would not have missed the opportunity.

“It is worth missing out on other places to say goodbye to an Argentine: a very worthy pope,” he said as he stood proudly wearing the jersey of Argentina’s national football team, the current world champions.

Mexican Leobardo Guevara, 24, draped in his country’s flag, said he felt “a sense of peace” as he filed past the body of the first pope from the Americas.

Francis, an energetic reformer who became pope in 2013, died on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke.

His death at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican came less than a month after he was released from five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.

Francis’s casket was initially put on display for Vatican staff and clergy in the Santa Marta chapel, before being transferred to St Peter’s Wednesday in a procession including cardinals, clergy and Swiss Guards.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among those who paid respects on Wednesday, and scores of world leaders and dignitaries plan to attend the funeral.

They include Argentine President Javier Milei and Britain’s Prince William, although Russia — which has for centuries had icy ties with the Vatican — said it would send its culture minister.

Authorities, who expect up to 170 foreign delegations, have ramped up security for the funeral.

Italy’s civil protection agency estimates that “several hundred thousand” people will descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday.

After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

His will requested that he be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.

Following that, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis’s successor.

Cardinals from around the world are returning to Rome for the conclave, which will begin no fewer than 15 days and no more than 20 days after a pope’s death.

Only those under the age of 80 — currently some 135 cardinals — are eligible to vote.

Cardinals have agreed that the traditional nine days of mourning for the pope, the so-called “novemdiales”, will begin on Saturday and conclude on May 4.

Another meeting of cardinals of all ages was set for Thursday at 9:00am (0700 GMT).

However, the Vatican brushed aside hopes of an announcement of the conclave date, insisting the focus is on the funeral.

At the time of his death, Francis was under doctors’ orders to rest for two months.

But the headstrong pope continued to make public appearances despite appearing tired and short of breath.

On Easter Sunday, one day before he died, he circled St Peter’s Square in his popemobile to greet the crowds, stopping to kiss babies along the way.

AFP