Tens of thousands of mourners have queued for hours to pay respects to pontiff before coffin is sealed on Friday
Almost 130,000 people from all over the world have viewed Pope Francis’s body as the Vatican makes the final preparations for his funeral on Saturday, an event that will be attended by 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs.
St Peter’s Basilica closed at 2.30am on Friday 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 Monday after a stroke. The coffin will be sealed at 8pm in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals.
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