Tens of thousands of mourners filed into St. Peter's Basilica on Friday on the last day to pay final respects to Pope Francis ahead of his funeral on Saturday.
Long queues snaked around St. Peter's Square and the surrounding roads, before being funneled through the heart of the basilica in a single column leading to the central altar, where Francis' open coffin was displayed on a dais.
The basilica was open for most of Thursday evening into Friday morning, shutting its doors for only three hours overnight.
The body of the 88-year-old pope, who died on Monday in his rooms at the Vatican's Santa Marta guesthouse after suffering a stroke, was brought to St. Peter's in a solemn procession on Wednesday.
Since then, about 150,000 people from all over the world have bid farewell to the pontiff, the Vatican said.
"It's a very strong feeling (to be here)," said Patricio Castriota, a visitor who, like the pope, is from Argentina. "This farewell was very sad, but I thank God that I was able to see him".
"He's the only pope we've had who came from South America, a pope who had many good intentions for the Catholic Church," said Castriota. "He cleaned up (a lot) of the bad, maybe not all of it, but he tried."
Francis, who became pope in 2013, was the first pontiff from the Western hemisphere and was known for an unusually charming, and even humorous, demeanor.
His 12-year papacy was sometimes turbulent, with Francis seeking to overhaul a divided institution but battling with traditionalists who opposed his many changes.
"He humanized the church, without desacralizing it," said Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, who leads the Church on the French island of Corsica.
Queues on Friday morning were stretching halfway down the main boulevard leading through Rome into the Vatican.
People were pressing forward slowly, some waiting hours, in order to have a few minutes inside to pay their respects to Francis.
Vatican officials plan to end viewings at 7 p.m. on Friday, ahead of a formal rite to seal the late pope's coffin. The Vatican said it would close access to the line to enter the basilica about an hour earlier at around 6 p.m.
ROME PREPARES FOR FUNERAL
A conclave to choose a new pontiff is unlikely to start before May 6. In the meantime, the world's Catholic cardinals have assumed temporary control of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church.
Cardinals present in Rome are convening almost daily, primarily to discuss logistical matters, in what is called a "general congregation".
149 of the world's 252 cardinals were present for the meeting on Friday morning, the Vatican said, with dozens more expected to arrive through the rest of the day.
Francis' coffin will be sealed in a private ceremony on Friday evening led by eight Catholic cardinals, including a US prelate who has faced criticism over his handling of sexual abuse cases.
Among those also present will be the late pope's secretaries.
Rome is preparing for the arrival of dozens of world leaders attending Saturday's funeral, including US President Donald Trump and 10 reigning monarchs.
There had been speculation that foreign leaders might have diplomatic meetings on the sidelines of the funeral to discuss the war in Ukraine, but the Elysee Palace said on Friday that French President Emmanuel Macron would not host any such meetings.
Trump was due to spend only about 15 hours in Rome, arriving late on Friday evening and leaving directly after the funeral.
Authorities have started ramping up security ahead of the ceremony, with snipers on rooftops, drones watching from the sky and an army device readied to neutralize hostile flying objects.
The heart of Rome is expected to be closed to traffic on Saturday to allow a funeral motorcade carrying the pope's remains to make its way slowly to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major), where Francis, in a break from tradition, asked to be buried instead of St. Peter's Basilica.
Crowds are expected to gather along the route, which will pass by many of Rome's famed monuments, including the Colosseum.
The pope's tomb will be in a niche in a side aisle of the basilica, with just the word "Franciscus", his name in Latin, engraved on the marble.
