The Vatican has opened St. Peter’s Basilica to the public so thousands of Catholic faithful can pay their final respects to Pope Francis over the next three days.
Flocks of mourners are filling the central aisle of the basilica this morning, with Swiss Guards standing at attention, to see Francis’ body lying in state. The public mourning period began at 11am (10am BST) today after the pontiff’s casket was transported from his residence at Casa Santa Marta to the basilica this morning.
Mourners, including nuns and the ordinary faithful, wept as the coffin of the late pontiff was moved through the huge crowd in a solemn processional. As the coffin crossed St. Peter’s Square, the crowd broke into repeated applause – a traditional Italian sign of respect at such events.
Red-hatted cardinals, priests, candle-carrying friars and helmeted Swiss Guards walked slowly into the vast, sunlit esplanade as a male choir chanted psalms and prayers in Latin while the great bells of the basilica tolled.
The body of the 88-year-old pope, who died in his rooms at the Santa Marta guesthouse after suffering a stroke on Easter Monday, was held aloft on a wooden platform by 14 white-gloved, black-suited pallbearers.
Francis, who spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year being treated for double pneumonia, last appeared in public on Easter Sunday, when he surprised pilgrims by being driven around the packed square in his white, open-topped popemobile.
The procession of cardinals and bishops today brought Francis through the same piazza where he gave what became his final salute on Easter Sunday. His body will lie in state in St. Peter’s until for the next three days. The basilica will open at 7am and close at midnight to allow as many people as possible to file past.
The final day of lying in state will end at 7pm so that St. Peter’s can be prepared for his funeral Mass on Saturday which will be attended by high profile VIPs including Prince William, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At least 200,000 people are expected to attend the outdoor service this weekend.
Catholic cardinals this morning performed the ritual ceremony to transfer Francis’ body from his home in the Vatican hotel to St. Peter’s.
Vatican Camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is running the Vatican administration until a new pope is elected, presided over the solemn ceremony in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where Francis lived.
Francis’ casket was flanked by four Swiss Guards standing at attention. Outside, priests carrying long candles waited to lead the procession – with Swiss Guards at their sides – into the basilica.
Pallbearers carried the simple wooden coffin on their shoulders through the Vatican’s archway gates, leading out into St. Peter’s Square, and passed the huge crowds of mourners.
The late pope’s open wooden coffin was carried by pallbearers the 500 metres from the Casa Santa Marta, where he lived and died, behind a procession of red-robed cardinals. Swiss Guards were at their sides in their golden and blue uniforms.
Mourners in the piazza watched as Francis’ casket passed by along the same path the pope had travelled just days before on Easter Sunday, in what became his final popemobile tour through the faithful.
It was a surprise salute, which Francis decided at the last minute after being assured by his nurse he could do it despite his continued frail health from pneumonia.
An honour guard of 18 Swiss Guards, dressed in their colourful red, blue and yellow uniforms carrying ceremonial lances, lined up in front of St. Peter’s Basilica just before 9am (8am BST) today.
The crowds gathered in front of St. Peter’s hushed as Cardinal Farrell read a prayer in Latin from Santa Marta chapel, where the Pope’s coffin had been since Monday. A choir sang as cardinals in their red cassocks and capes stood in prayer.
The ceremony from inside the Santa Marta chapel was relayed on giant screens that had been erected overnight.
Four ushers then wheeled the coffin from the chapel and the bell on the left-hand side of St. Peter’s began it’s solemn tolling at 9.10am to mark the start of the procession.
The procession was led by Cardinals, who in a few weeks will be tasked with electing a new Pope when they meet for their Conclave. It passed through the Piazza Santa Marta and the Piazza dei Protomartiri before entering St. Peter’s Square through the Arch of Bells.
Twelve pall bearers, all dressed in pale blue suits, carried the open coffin at shoulder height through the square behind the Vatican and into the basilica. As they walked, the tolling belling and Latin chanting of prayers, added to the solemn atmosphere of the proceedings.
Priests carrying candled also flanked the coffin and there was a further outer cohort of Swiss Guards either side of the coffin.
By the time the coffin came into view, around 20,000 people had gathered in St. Peter’s square, under a fierce sun with temperature already 20C.
The coffin entered the basilica though the central doors and was placed by the Altar of the Confession, where Cardinal Farrell blessed it with holy water and incense.
He then read from the Gospel of St John: ‘At that time Jesus lifted up his eyes to Heaven, and praying said: ‘Father I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
‘O Righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
‘I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ (John 17 21-24)
As requested by Pope Francis in his will, there was no elaborate raised catafalque for his coffin, just a simple wooden board for it to be carried on.
Pilgrims in the crowd were able to follow the service via 58 page booklet posted online by the Vatican.
Cardinal Farrell said: ‘Brothers and sisters, let us pray to God our Father, that he may welcome our departed Shepherd, to his eternal home, and increase our faith in the resurrection of the dead.’
At this another ripple of applause broke out among the faithful before the service concluded with the Our Father prayer and Marian Antiphon 75 minutes after it had started.
Crowds began gathering in St. Peter’s Square just before 7am so they could be among the first to enter the basilica when the official lying in state begins at 11am.
Those wanting to file past the coffin have been told to expect a long wait and come prepared with water and snacks.
When Pope John Paul II died in 2005 more than four million people attended his lying in state and later funeral. Officials expect similar numbers for Francis.
Pallets of water bottles have been stockpiled along the main Via della Conciliazione, which leads to St. Peter’s, and first aid tents have also been set up.
Italian police have tightened security for the viewing and the funeral, carrying out foot and horse patrols around the Vatican, where pilgrims continued to arrive for the Holy Year celebrations that Francis opened in December.
The faithful who walk through St. Peter’s Holy Door are granted indulgences, a way to help atone for sins.
Metal detectors have also been installed at various key points and sharp shooters will be positioned on rooftops for Saturday’s funeral.
Ahead of his lying in state the pontiff’s body was embalmed and given a touch of make up. Francis first laid in state in the Santa Marta Domus in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household.
Images released by the Vatican on Tuesday showed Francis lying in an open casket, wearing the traditional pointed headdress of bishops and red robes, his hands folded over a rosary. The Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was pictured praying by Francis.
Cardinals are continuing their meetings this week to plan the conclave to elect Francis’ successor, make other decisions about running the Catholic Church as world leaders and the ordinary faithful grieve the pontiff’s death.
History’s first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated many conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change.
He last appeared in public on Sunday with an Easter blessing and popemobile tour through a cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
He had some reservations about looping through the square packed with 50,000 faithful, Vatican News reported on Tuesday, but overcame them – and was thankful that he had greeted the crowd. He died the next morning.
