In the first nine hours that Pope Francis’ body had lain in state in St Peter’s Basilica, more than 19,000 people stood in line for hours in the sun to pray and pay homage to him.
The doors of the basilica opened to the public a little after 11am local time after the pope’s simple wooden casket was transferred from his residence during a solemn prayer service. As of 7.30pm, 19,430 people had gone into the basilica, Matteo Bruni, head of the Vatican press office, told reporters at a news briefing 23 April.
Thousands of people stood in line from three to five hours to see the pope, according to a small sample of visitors. The press office said the basilica was ready to extend its opening hours past midnight if the lines required they do so.
The public also would be able to view the pope’s open casket in St Peter’s Basilica starting from 7am 24 and 25 April, with closing times varying depending on the crowds. The official ceremony to close his casket was scheduled for 8pm 25 April with his funeral scheduled for the next morning.
Vatican Media’s YouTube channel was broadcasting a live feed of the flow of visitors streaming into the basilica and gathered before the pope’s casket during the hours the basilica was open to the public 23-25 April.
The heightened security and increasing numbers of visitors to the basilica led to a change in program for those participating in the Jubilee of Adolescents.
The Dicastery for Evangelisation said the specially designated pilgrimage route down the wide boulevard to the basilica will no longer be accessible, and pilgrims will have to stand in the lines indicated by authorities to go through the Holy Door.
Additionally, on 26 April the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica was to remain closed until 3pm because of the pope’s funeral in St Peter’s Square and until 3pm 27 April because of the celebration of a memorial Mass in the square.
However, pilgrims would be able to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Doors of the Basilicas of St Paul Outside the Walls and St John Lateran without the need for reservations, the dicastery added.
Meanwhile, 103 cardinals met in the early evening 23 April for their second general congregation, during which they discussed and approved the program for the nine formal Masses—called the “novendiali” for “nine days”—that are celebrated for a deceased pontiff and that start with the pope’s funeral 26 April at 10am in St Peter’s Square, Bruni said.
The cardinals, who met for about an hour and a half, decided that the memorial Mass 27 April at 10.30am in St Peter’s Basilica will be presided over by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former secretary of state, and it will focus particularly on the employees and the faithful of Vatican City State.
The next seven Masses will be celebrated in the basilica at 5pm each day and are open to the public but focused on a specific group.
Those presiding over the Masses are: Cardinal Baldassare Reina, papal vicar of Rome, 28 April; Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica, 29 April; Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, subdean of the College of Cardinals, 30 April; Cardinal Kevin J Farrell, chamberlain, 1 May; Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, former prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, 2 May; Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, former pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 3 May; and Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, 4 May.
The cardinals’ next meeting was scheduled for the morning of 24 April.
Also, from 23-26 April, the rosary will be recited at 9pm at Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major, where Pope Francis will be buried after the funeral 26 April.
Bruni also said that as of 23 April, there were more than 2,200 journalists and members of the media accredited for events related to the death of Pope Francis. He said the press office had received about 4,000 requests for accreditation so far.
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