Almost 130,000 people from all over the world have so far filed past the Pope’s open casket – as he lies in state for a final day in St Peter’s Basilica.
The final preparations are being made for his funeral tomorrow, an event that will be attended by 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs.
St Peter’s Basilica closed at 2.30am this morning and reopened three hours later to accommodate the last of the huge crowds of mourners who had waited patiently to pay their respects to Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday.
The coffin will be sealed at 8pm in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals.
Fr. Brendan Hoban who is a broadcaster on Midwest Radio’s Sunday morning programme Faith Alive says it has been a surreal number of days.
Fr. Hoban who wrote a book two years ago “Holding out for a Hero: The long wait for Pope Francis” says he was a very personable man and wanted a very simple Pope’s funeral.
However, Fr. Hoban say’s that won’t come to pass as tens of thousands have been attending to pay their respects as he has been outlining to Midwest Radio’s Michael D. McAndrew.
