Mourners queued in their thousands for hours on Thursday to catch a last glimpse of Pope Francis's body on the second day of public tributes as Italian authorities stepped up security arrangements ahead of his weekend funeral.
Some 61,000 people had filed past the late Catholic leader's red-lined wooden coffin in the first 26 hours since Francis was laid in state at St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning, the Vatican said.
Such was the demand to see him that authorities extended visiting hours on Wednesday from midnight local time until 5.30am.
After a break of just one and a half hours, the doors opened again, with authorities saying the window might again be extended on Thursday night if necessary.
Italian authorities have begun increasing security for the funeral, even blocking drones.
On Thursday morning, the queue quickly stretched far past the two entry points at St Peter's Square, where spirits were high despite the long wait.
"It's true that it feels oppressive but at the same time you all feel united, everyone happy," Frenchwoman Laure Du Moulin who visited with her family, told AFP. "Everyone seems enthusiastic, fraternal, like a big community."
Friends Florencia Soria and Ana Sofía Alicata, both 26 and – like Francis – from Argentina, came prepared for the long wait with coffees and wondered whether the light rain might work in their favour.
"We're here and we hope it will go as well as possible, with people leaving because of the rain," joked Soria, although the sun soon re-emerged.
World leaders expected
Francis died on Monday aged 88, after 12 years as head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed the most vulnerable and marginalised in society.
His funeral on Saturday is expected to draw huge crowds as well as world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Argentina's President Javier Milei.
The ceremony will be held in front of St Peter's Basilica.
Lined in red silk, the pope's wooden coffin has been set before St Peter's altar, with Francis dressed in his papal vestments – a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes – with a rosary in his hands.
Each mourner was ushered past the casket within seconds, while authorities on Thursday banned the use of smartphones inside the Basilica.
A day earlier the flow of mourners was slower with many people trying to capture photos or videos.
"It was a brief but intense moment next to his body," Italian Massimo Palo, 63, told AFP after his visit.
"He was a pope amongst his flock, amongst his people, and I hope the next papacies will be a bit like his," he added.
The coffin is due to be sealed on Friday night at 8pm in a ceremony presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo who is running the Vatican's day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected.
Francis, who suffered a stroke, died at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican less than a month after he was released from five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.
The Vatican said on Thursday that 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will attend the funeral.
At least 130 foreign delegations have confirmed their attendance, the Vatican said, as security is ramped up for the funeral.
A defence source told AFP the air force had already deployed electromagnetic devices to prevent drones from flying over the city.
Italy's civil protection agency estimates that "several hundred thousand" people will descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday.
No conclave date yet
After the funeral, Francis's coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome's papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
A group of "poor and needy" will be present at the basilica to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.
He will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus. People will be able to visit it from Sunday morning, the Vatican announced.
Following that, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis's successor.
Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was Francis' number two, is the favourite with British bookmakers William Hill, ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila.
Cardinals from around the world are returning to Rome for the conclave, which will begin no fewer than 15 days and no more than 20 days after a pope's death.
Only those under the age of 80 – currently some 135 cardinals – are eligible to vote.
They have held a series of meetings to discuss preparations for the funeral and looming conclave.
Cardinals have agreed that the traditional nine days of mourning for the pope, the so-called "novemdiales," will begin on Saturday and conclude on May 4.
However, the Vatican brushed aside hopes of an announcement of the conclave date, insisting the focus is on the funeral.
At the time of his death, Francis was under doctors' orders to rest for two months but had continued to make public appearances right up until Easter Sunday.
by Barnaby Chesterman & Toni Cerdà, AFP
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