The Vatican opened St. Peter’s Basilica to the general public Wednesday to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, with thousands of people filling the central aisle and Swiss Guards standing at attention.
Francis died on Monday at age 88.
Earlier, the bells of St. Peter’s tolled as his body was transferred from the Vatican hotel where he lived into the basilica, escorted by a procession of solemn cardinals and Swiss Guards through the same piazza where the pontiff had greeted the faithful from his popemobile just days before in what became his final good-bye.
Pallbearers carried the simple wooden coffin on their shoulders through the Vatican’s archway gates, out into St. Peter’s Square and into the basilica, the cardinals in their scarlet cassocks, bishops in their purple robes and the Swiss Guards in their golden and blue uniforms processing slowly behind.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is running the Vatican temporarily until a new pope is elected, led the procession, with clouds of incense preceding him as the church choir began chanting the Litany of Saints hymn.
In pairs, the cardinals approached the casket, bowed and made a sign of the cross, followed by small groups of bishops, ushers, priests and nuns.
Heads of state are expected for Francis’ funeral Saturday, but the three days of public viewing in the basilica will allow ordinary Catholics to grieve the 88-year-old pope, who died Monday after suffering a stroke.
The basilica was being kept open until midnight to accommodate the crowds, a mourning period that will end on Friday at 7 p.m., when Francis’ casket is closed and sealed.
Mourners in the piazza watched as Francis’ casket passed them 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.
Francis’ body will lie in state in the basilica until Saturday’s funeral and burial.
