LAST UPDATE | 24 Apr

OVER 90,000 PEOPLE have filed into St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis ahead of his funeral on Saturday. 

The basilica was due to close to the public at midnight last night, but was kept open until 5:30am this morning due to unprecedented numbers of people queuing to pay their respects to the late Pope following his death on Easter Monday.

Some 13,000 people entered St. Peter’s Basilica between midnight and 5.30am.

Despite average waiting times of four hours, over 90,000 mourners have passed through the doors of the basilica as of 7pm today.

The doors to St Peter’s opened to the public at 11am on Wednesday, where they have been filtering past the Pope’s open, red-lined wooden coffin.

Many more are predicted ahead of Saturday’s funeral.

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Francis has been lying in state in his papal vestments – a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes – and with a rosary laced between his fingers.

Such was the demand to see him lying in state that each mourner attending the ongoing public ceremony was ushered past the casket within seconds, many hurriedly catching the moment on their smartphones.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among those who paid respects on Wednesday, and scores of world leaders and dignitaries plan to attend the funeral.

Italy is preparing a massive security operation for the funeral in front of St Peter’s, which will be attended by the Ireland contingent – President Michael D Higgins, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste.

US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Britain’s Prince William will also be in attendance.

Francis died on Monday after 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, during which time he made a name for himself as a pope of the marginalised.

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After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

His will requested that he be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.

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Peter’s will close to the public at 7pm on Friday.

At 8pm, Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of the closing of the coffin.

Meanwhile, an image of Francis’s tomb in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major has been released.

Image of Francis' tomb Vatican Vatican

Francis will be the first pope since Leo XIII, who died in 1903, to be buried outside of the Vatican. 

Here at home, Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Primate of All Ireland, presided over a Mass this evening in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh for Pope Francis.

He said Francis “immediately began to prioritise the poor and the marginalised” when he began his papacy.

He noted that Francis’s first papal journey was to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa following the deaths of refugees in the Mediterranean Sea who were trying to reach Europe.

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He also remarked upon how Francis visited a prison on Holy Thursday in the days leading up to his death.

“Francis was unafraid to criticise the drawbacks of modern capitalism and rampant consumerism, the limitless and sometimes ruthless exploitation of the world’s resources and the crime of so much waste,” said Martin.

Martin also recalled how Francis daily phoned the Catholic parish in Gaza “since the brutal attacks by Hamas in October 2023 and Israel’s merciless response”.

“He telephoned the tiny Christian community in Gaza to offer them accompaniment, prayers and encouragement.”

And speaking from Hillsborough Castle, Tánaiste Simon Harris said Francis was a “global leader who was a force for good in the world”.

“The Pope often inquired as to how things were going here in Northern Ireland and I understand from talking to those who spoke to him that he had a real interest and fascination with the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.

“And indeed, at a time where there’s so much conflict in the world, believed that the experience of Northern Ireland and bringing about peace could be a source of inspiration for others.”

He added: “I know people right across this island, these islands and the world, mourn the loss of Pope Francis.”

Also at Hillsborough, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the Mass was a “sombre moment for reflection on the life of Pope Francis”.

He said Francis took “such a close interest in Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement”.

He added: “But above all, he was known for his advocacy on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed around the world – and that is one reason why there is such sadness in his passing.”

Additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper and Press Association