Around 250,000 people visited St. Peter’s Basilica over three days to pay their respects to Pope Francis, the Vatican announced on Friday, as public viewing concluded and global leaders began arriving for his funeral.
Among the final visitors was French President Emmanuel Macron, with total attendance surpassing the 195,000 who came to honor Pope Benedict XVI after his passing in 2013.
“What a great man! He loved everyone, every religion,” AFP quoted 53-year-old Italian Igho Felici after viewing Francis’s coffin.
“I had to be here,” he added.
All day long, large crowds filled Via della Conciliazione — the broad avenue leading to St. Peter’s Basilica — as pilgrims and tourists blended with Italians taking advantage of the April 25 public holiday.
Pope Francis lies in a simple wooden coffin, dressed in a red chasuble, white mitre, and black shoes, a rosary entwined around his fingers. The coffin is set to be closed in a private ceremony at 8:00 pm.
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