So many mourners lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state in a simple wooden coffin inside St. Peter바카라s Basilica that the Vatican kept the doors open all night due to higher-than-expected turnout, closing the basilica for just an hour and a half Thursday morning for cleaning.
The basilica was bathed in a hushed silence as mourners from across the globe made a slow, shuffling procession up the main aisle to pay their last respects to Francis, who died Monday at age 88 after a stroke.
The Vatican said more than 90,000 people had paid their respects by Thursday evening, a day and a half after opening. The basilica closed for just a short time Thursday morning, and will stay open Thursday night as long as there are mourners, the Vatican said.
The hours spent on line up the stately via della Conciliazione through St. Peter바카라s Square and through the Holy Door into the basilica has allowed mourners to find community around the Argentine pontiff바카라s legacy of inclusion and humble persona.
Emiliano Fernandez, a Catholic from Mexico, was waiting in line around midnight, and after two hours still had not reached the basilica.
바카라I don바카라t even care how much time I wait here. It바카라s just the opportunity to (show) how I admired Francisco in his life,바카라' said Fernandez, whose admiration for the pope grew during his 2016 visit to Mexico.
Robert Healy, a pilgrim from Ireland, flew on the spur of the moment from Dublin just to pay his respects.
바카라I think it바카라s just really important to be here, to show our respect to the Holy Father,바카라' he said. 바카라We flew from Dublin last night, we바카라re staying for one day, home tonight then. We just felt it was really important to be here.바카라
Among the first-day mourners was a church group of 14-year-olds from near Milan who arrived for the now-suspended canonization of the first millennial saint, as well as a woman who prayed to the pope for a successful operation and an Italian family who brought their small children to see the pope바카라s body.
바카라We came because we didn바카라t bring them when he was alive, so we thought we would bring them for a final farewell,바카라바카라 said Rosa Scorpati, who was exiting the basilica Wednesday with her three children in strollers. 바카라They were good, but I don바카라t think they really understood because they haven바카라t yet had to deal with death.바카라
Like many others, the Scorpati family from Calabria was in Rome on an Easter vacation, only to be met with the news of Francis바카라 death on Easter Monday.
Out of devotion to the pope and his message of inclusion, the grieving faithful joined the procession of mourners that wended from St. Peter바카라s Square through the basilica바카라s Holy Door, with the repentant among them winning an indulgence, a form of atonement granted during the Jubilee Holy Year. From there, the line extended down the basilica바카라s central aisle to the pope바카라s simple wooden casket.
After three days of public viewing, a funeral Mass including heads of state will be held Saturday in St. Peter바카라s Square. The pope will then be buried in a niche within the St. Mary Major Basilica, near his favorite Madonna icon.
