Mourners fill St. Peter's Basilica to honor Pope Francis

The coffin will remain at St. Peter's Basilica until his funeral at 10 a.m. Saturday. The basilica will remain open on Wednesday and Thursday evening until midnight to allow the faithful to pay their respects. The public mourning period will end at 7 p.m. Friday.

According to informal estimates from the Italian security service in St. Peter's Square, about 100,000 people remained in the square about 5:30 p.m. Given the turnout, a Vatican press office official said, officials may leave the basilica's doors open beyond midnight.

Francis will be buried in the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. He is to be the first pope to be interred outside the Vatican in more than a century.

The bells of St. Peter's tolled as Francis' coffin was escorted by a procession of 80 cardinals, bishops, pastors from about 50 Rome parishes, close friends and relatives of Francis, priests and nuns resident in the Vatican, and Swiss Guards. Six sediari pontifici — laymen who, among other Vatican duties, organize St. Peter's Square events — walked along each side of the coffin. 

The pope's body traversed the same route path the pope had traveled via popemobile a few days earlier as he greeted the enthusiastic throngs gathered in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. 

Temperatures hovered near 24°C (75°F), and the midday sun beat down on the crowd with unwavering intensity. Some fanned themselves with folded pamphlets, others sipped from water bottles. Despite the heat, there was little complaint. Pilgrims stood shoulder to shoulder, many clasping rosaries, some in quiet prayer. Others wept, wiping away tears as they neared the entrance to the basilica. Hymns occasionally broke out,  hushed voices carried softly across the square.

"His message that resonated with me the most was his message for overall peace amongst all the nations, and for his outreach to the poor," said Morghan Mansfield, a 20-year-old from the Diocese of Monterey, currently studying in Rome. "I decided to come here today to honor our beloved father, who has passed on."

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit and first Latin American pope, championed a vision of a more inclusive church. His papacy emphasized humility, environmental responsibility and compassion for the marginalized. That message reverberated beyond the church.

Aaron Brandt, an American Jewish student in Rome, traveled to St. Peter's Square to pay tribute to Francis' broad influence. "I think the biggest sort of parallel between Judaism and Pope Francis is the idea of tolerance," he said. "There's a lot of social justice within Judaism, and it kind of draws some similarities with Pope Francis, because he was more of a progressive pope."

"I just like the way he ran things, as head of church," Brandt said. "He just wanted to show that he was there for peace." 

Inside the basilica, mourners moved silently past the pontiff's body, many pausing to cross themselves or bow their heads. No chatter. Just a shared, sacred silence, interrupted only by flashes from photographers.

For Kevin Richardson, a British Catholic who caught a last-minute flight to Rome from Manchester, the pilgrimage was both a spiritual duty and a deeply personal farewell. 

"If you have the time and money, I think you are sort of obliged to come," he said. "I liked when the piazza was completely empty during the COVID period, and he came out with the Eucharist just over there. That was a good scene."

Some mourners, like Mary Itaas from Cebu, Philippines, found themselves in Rome to pay respects to the pope by providence. "We just came here to enter the Holy Door," she said. "It was a big surprise for us and very, very sad to read the pope is already passed away."