So many mourners aligned to see Pope Francis in a state in a Simple wood coffin within the Basilica of San Pedro That the Vatican kept the doors open all night due to a higher participation than expected, closing the basilica for only one hour on Thursday morning for cleaning.
The basilica is bathed in a silent silence while the mourners around the world make a slow and dragged procession through the main hall to present their last respect for Francis, Who died on Monday after a stroke.
The hours dedicated to the alignment of the majestic through Della Coniliazione through the Plaza de San Pedro and through the saint in the Basilica have allowed the mourners to find the community around the legacy of inclusion of the Argentine pontiff and the humble personality.
Emiliano Fernández, a Catholic from Mexico, was waiting in line around midnight, and after two hours he had not yet reached the basilica.
“I don’t have much time I expect here. It’s just the opportunity to (show) how I admired Francisco in his life,” said Fernández, whose admiration for the Pope grew the duration of 2016. It’s waiting. “
The last numbers published by the Vatican said that more than 20,000 people had paid their Respect the first 8 ½ hours Or public visualization on Wednesday.
The basilica closed for only one hour of the morning, from 6 am to 7 am, the planned opening schedule.
Among the first day’s Mourters was a group of the 14 -year -old youth church of the nearby Milan who arrived for the canonization now suspended from the first Millennial Saint, as well as a woman who prayed to the Pope for a successful operation and an Italian family family.
“We are a lotter that we brought them when I was alive, so we thought we would bring them for a final farewell,” said Rosa Scorpati, who was leaving the basilica on Wednesday with her three good tea. Because the port had to deal with death. “
Like many others, Calabria’s Scorpati family was in Rome on a Easter holiday, just to be with the news of Francis’s death on Easter Monday.
For devotion to the Pope and his inclusion message, the afflicted faithful joined the procession of the mourners who left the Plaza de San Pedro through the Holy Gate of the Basilica, with the repentance between them winning a Holy of Indulgene.
From there, the line extended through the central hall of the basilica to the simple wooden coffin of the Pope.
For Wednesday night, the wait seemed to be three or four hours and grow. A person who did the management of the crowd estimated that the wait was closer to five hours.
The mourners extended through the center of Via della Coniliazione, in a lane reserved for the pilgrims of the jubilee.
After three days of public visualization, A funeral mass Including heads of state will take place on Saturday at St. Peter’s Square.
The Pope will be buried in a niche inside the Basilica Mayor of Santa María, near his favorite Madonna icon.
Francis’s death, who was 88, limited a 12 -year -old pontificate characterized by his concern for the poor and their inclusion message, but was also criticized by some conservatives who felt alienated for their progressive perspective.
A procession of priests, bishops and cardinals accompanied Francis’s body on Wednesday on his trip from a private observation within the Vatican to the Plaza de San Pedro.
Pagantry contrasted with the human interactions of rank mourners in public visualization.
Francis lay in the state in an open coffin, perched on a ramp in front of the snacks, with four Swiss attention guards. When the crowd reached the coffin, many raised their smartphones to take a photo.
A nun who accompanies an old woman with a cane walked away sobbing: “My dad has left.”
Such despair was rare. The mood was more gratitude for a Pope who, with the example, had taught many people to open their minds.
“I am very dedicated to the Pope,” said Ienes Bianco, who was in Rome from toast, Italy, for an operation. “It was important for me because he gathered people by encouraging Coexist.
Humbeline Coroy arrived in Rome from Perpignan, France, for the planned canonization on the Sunday of Carlo Acutis, 15, which was Suspended after the death of the Pope.
He stayed to respect Francis, enjoying exchanges with the Japanese mourners with whom they expected under the sun in the Plaza de San Pedro.
“For me, there are many things. In my work, I work with disabled children, and I traveled to Madagascar to work with people. Being here, and near the Pope, is a way of integrating these experiences and making them cancer of concrete prayer.
For Alessandra Nardi, the death of the Pope brought memories of death three years ago from her beloved Uncle Luigi, who used to call her from the Plaza de San Pedro when she came to see Pope Francis say Mass. Hey, “let me listen to the bells. It was something beautiful.”
Riccardo Ojeda de Colombia said that his experience waiting in line for two hours to present respect to the Pope had how much “humanity loves the Pope.”
“He left a very important legacy for everyone,” he said, “make this world happier.”
