VATICAN FLOODED WITH MOURNERS AS THOUSANDS PAY FINAL RESPECTS TO POPE FRANCIS
More than 50,000 mourners have already filed past Pope Francis’s open casket inside St. Peter’s Basilica, with the Vatican keeping the basilica open overnight due to overwhelming crowds. Francis died Monday April 21st from a stroke and is lying in state ahead of Saturday’s funeral, where world leaders are expected to attend.
The basilica was briefly closed for an hour Thursday morning for cleaning but reopened quickly as queues continued to stretch across St. Peter’s Square. Mourners shuffled past the simple wooden coffin in silence, many moved to tears, while family members and close aides paid quiet tributes.
Francis, the first Latin American pope, will be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, becoming the first pope in over a century not to be interred in the Vatican. After the funeral mass, the Catholic Church will enter a two-week mourning period followed by a conclave to elect his successor.
Cardinals have already begun preliminary meetings, known as “congregations,” but have not yet entered the conclave itself. Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers said the focus remains on honoring Francis before moving on to the next phase of Church leadership.
