St Peter’s Basilica stays open late as thousands pay final respects to Pope Francis

Vatican City — St Peter’s Basilica closed its doors just briefly in the early hours and then opened again on Thursday to welcome crowds of worshippers from around the world lining up to pay their final respects to Pope Francis.

About 61,000 people have filed past the late pontiff’s open coffin since it was laid out in the basilica on Wednesday ahead of the funeral on Saturday, Vatican officials said.

Queues were forming for about 2km north of the Vatican, with some people reporting waits of about three hours to make it into the basilica.

Francis died aged 88 on Monday morning in his rooms at the Vatican’s Santa Marta guest house, having only recently left hospital after five weeks being treated for double pneumonia.

“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.”

The basilica had initially been scheduled to close at midnight on Wednesday but given the size of the crowds, officials kept it open until 5.30am before it reopened at 7am.

The head of the pontiff's medical team said that Francis had died quickly from an unexpected stroke without suffering undue pain.

“I entered his rooms and he (Francis) had his eyes open,” Sergio Alfieri told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

“I ascertained that there were no respiratory problems. And then I tried to call his name, but he did not respond to me. In that moment I knew there was nothing more to do,” said Alfieri.

FUNERAL PLANS

More than 170 delegations including heads of state and government including US President Donald Trump are expected in St Peter’s Square for Saturday’s funeral ceremony, with millions more watching on television across the globe.

Francis, who was from Argentina and was the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, had an often turbulent 12-year reign in which he repeatedly clashed with Church traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.

“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 that will be held next month to elect the church’s 267th pontiff. 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 favoured a change of direction.

Ahead of the conclave, which is not expected to begin until at least May 6, cardinals already in Rome are meeting each day, primarily to discuss logistical matters for the day-to-day running of the 1.4-billion member church.

Thursday’s meeting lasted about three hours and 113 cardinals took part, the Vatican said. The next meeting is expected on Friday morning, but the cardinals will not meet on the day of the funeral.

Every cardinal taking part in the meetings must take an oath to “scrupulously maintain” secrecy over any discussions about the election of the next pope.

Reuters