ROME (Reuters)-Tens of thousands of people attended the Basilica of St. Peter this Friday, the last day to pay tributes to before the funeral on Saturday.
Long lines were seen by St. Peter’s Square and around the streets, before being channeled by the heart of the Basilica in a single column that led to the central altar, where Francisco’s open coffin is placed on a dais.
The basilica was open for most of Thursday night until Friday morning, closing its doors for just three hours at night.
The 88-year-old Pope’s body, in the Vatican, after a stroke, was taken to St. Peter’s Basilica in a solemn procession on Wednesday.
Since then, almost 130,000 people from around the world have said goodbye to the pontiff, the Vatican said.
“It’s a very strong feeling (being here),” said Patricio Castriota, a visitor who, like the Pope, is Argentine. “This farewell was very sad, but I thank God for being able to see Him.”
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“He is the only Pope we had come from South America, a Pope who had a lot of good intentions to the Catholic Church,” said Castriot. “He cleaned (a lot) of bad things, maybe not all, but tried.”
Francisco, who has been a pope since 2013, was the first pontiff of the western hemisphere and was known for exceptionally charming and even humorous behavior.
His 12 -year -old paddle was sometimes turbulent, with Francisco seeking to reform a divided institution, but fighting with traditionalists who opposed his many changes.
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“He has humanized the church without desecrating it,” said Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, who leads the church on the French island of Corsga.
The queues on Friday morning stretched out to the middle of the main avenue that takes from Rome to the Vatican.
People slowly advanced, some waiting for hours so that they could have a few minutes inside and pay their honors to Francis.
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Vatican authorities plan to end the wake at 7 pm on Friday, local time, before the formal sealing rite of the coffin. The Vatican said he would close access to the line to enter the basilica around 6 pm.
“What surprised me was how determined he was to serve the church and love his people with all his energy, until the end,” Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, ceremonial leader of the Vatican’s Cardinian College and retired authority, to the Italian newspaper La Republica in an interview published on Friday.
