![\"EPA](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7a0e\/live\/95ac8e40-207d-11f0-b7c0-4f6e24ac1319.jpg.webp\")
EPA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nTens of thousands of mourners have lined up for a chance to pay their respects to Pope Francis, whose body has been displayed in an open coffin in St Peter’s Basilica.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, as many as 20,000 people gathered to witness red-robed cardinals and white-clad priests escort the coffin from the Pope’s personal residence.<\/p>\n
Bells tolled during the 40-minute procession, while the crowd broke into applause – a traditional Italian sign of respect.<\/p>\n
Nine days of mourning will be observed in the Vatican, while the Pope’s funeral will be held on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 88-year-old died on Monday after suffering a stroke. He had spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year with double pneumonia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Francis was the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church and held the role for 12 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n His body will lie in state in the church until Friday evening. Public viewing began at 11:00 local time (10:00 BST) on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Swiss Guards, who are responsible for the Pope’s safety, escorted his coffin to the church’s altar.<\/p>\n Soon after the event began, the queue was already eight hours long, according to Italian media. By mid-afternoon, tens of thousands of people were lining the square.<\/p>\n The Vatican said it was considering extending the church’s opening time beyond midnight due to the number of people waiting. <\/p>\n The church had been due to close at midnight local time on Wednesday and Thursday and at 19:00 on Friday, before the coffin is sealed.<\/p>\n Luis and Macarena, from Mexico, had come to Rome for their honeymoon and hoped to see the Pope, who gives a special blessing to newlyweds. Luis told the BBC seeing the Pope’s final resting place would allow them to feel a connection.<\/p>\n “Pope Francis is a saint and he will bless us from heaven,” Luis said.<\/p>\n Mary Ellen, an American who lives in Italy, said she had come to the Vatican on an overnight train to “say goodbye”.<\/p>\n “I love Papa Francesco,” she said. “Because he’s humble, kind, he loves immigrants. I know he’s put up with a lot of difficult things in the Vatican. He’s fought against power and the power of the Vatican to be a true Christian, true Catholic.”<\/p>\n She said when she passes the coffin, she will be praying and will ask Pope Francis for help with her own work with immigrants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Inside St Peter’s, under the watchful marble eye of popes and saints, a steady stream of people made their way to the Pope’s casket to pay their respects.<\/p>\n Some kneeled while others prayed and crossed themselves, before slowly moving on.<\/p>\n Many lingered to admire the staggering beauty of the basilica. The atmosphere was quiet and solemn despite the thousands of people present.<\/p>\n Two women who waited for five hours to see the Pope said they had arrived at the basilica’s queue at 09:00.<\/p>\n One told the BBC it was important to her to say goodbye to the pontiff.<\/p>\n “All these years I followed all he did and it’s as if I travelled all over the world with him, even if I was just at home. He liked going everywhere and prioritises the poor,” she said.<\/p>\n Asked what was it like to see him in his coffin, she replied: “It’s just like the man we used to see on TV.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fredrik, who is from Ghana but travelled from Poland, said the Pope had “done his best” and “it is left to us to continue the good works”.<\/p>\n Eva Asensio, a Mexican on holiday in Italy, said she felt an affinity for the Argentine pope. <\/p>\n “We saw him as a good Pope \u2013 someone who supported everyone, no matter your sexual orientation, no matter where you came from. He united us,” she said with tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n Margaux, who is French and lives in Rome, said it was “powerful to live this.” <\/p>\n To her, Pope Francis meant “hope”, and his more progressive social views were “very important”, she said.<\/p>\n “I hope the next Pope will follow his path,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dignitaries from all over the world, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Prince William, will attend the funeral on Saturday.<\/p>\n Pope Francis left clear instructions that he wanted a smaller ceremony in keeping with his simpler tastes as pontiff. He had arranged for a benefactor to pay for it all.<\/p>\n Unlike the vast majority of his predecessors, he will not be buried in St Peter’s, but in a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary in central Rome, beneath a tombstone inscribed only with his name.<\/p>\n Before being moved to St Peter’s, Pope Francis had been lying in an open coffin in the chapel of his home, flanked by Swiss Guards and cardinals in prayer.<\/p>\n His last public appearance was on Easter Sunday, during which he delivered brief remarks to the masses gathered in St Peter’s Square from a wheelchair. <\/p>\n He then greeted worshippers and blessed babies as he was driven in a car through the crowds.<\/p>\n His Papal apartments have been sealed, marking the start of the period known as the Sede Vacante – or empty seat \u2013 which continues until a new head of the church is elected.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Jorge Perez<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250409-091508-0ef9b7676-web-2.19.1-12\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/43c5\/live\/f4e77b50-207c-11f0-b7c0-4f6e24ac1319.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/ed2f\/live\/715d1860-207e-11f0-b7c0-4f6e24ac1319.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/c38a\/live\/c84b8de0-2007-11f0-9c65-a5c3dc449bf3.jpg.webp\")
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