Thousands mourn Pope Francis as Vatican considers extending public viewing

Mourners from across the globe made a slow, shuffling procession up the main aisle of St Peter's Basilica to pay their last respects to Pope Francis, finding community as they spent hours waiting to reach the open casket of the Argentine pontiff remembered for creating a climate of inclusion.

The public viewing was scheduled to resume Thursday, a day after it began with numbers that were so strong that the Vatican said it would consider longer hours to meet the demand.

Nearly 20,000 people paid their respects in the first 8 1/2 hours. 

Among them was a church group of 14-year-olds from near Milan who arrived for the now-suspended canonisation of the first millennial saint, as well as a woman who prayed to the pope for a successful operation and an Italian family who brought their small children to see the pope's body.

We came because we didn't bring them when he was alive, so we thought we would bring them for a final farewell, said Rosa Scorpati, who was exiting the basilica Wednesday with her three children in strollers. They were good, but I don't think they really understood because they haven't yet had to deal with death.

Like many others, the Scorpati family from Calabria was in Rome on an Easter vacation, only to be met with the news of Francis' death on Easter Monday.

Out of devotion to the pope and his message of inclusion, the grieving faithful joined the procession of mourners that wended from St Peter's Square through the basilica's Holy Door, with the repentant among them winning an indulgence, a form of atonement granted during the Jubilee Holy Year.

From there, the line extended down the basilica's central aisle to the pope's simple wooden casket.

By late Wednesday, the wait appeared to be three or four hours and growing. A person doing crowd management estimated that the wait was closer to five hours. The mourners stretched down the centre of Via della Conciliazione, in a lane set aside for Jubilee pilgrims.

After three days of public viewing, a funeral Mass including heads of state will be held Saturday in St Peter's Square. The pope will then be buried in a niche within the St Mary Major Basilica, near his favourite Madonna icon.

The death of Francis, who was 88, capped a 12-year pontificate characterised by his concern for the poor and his message of inclusion, but he was also criticised by some conservatives who felt alienated by his progressive outlook.

A procession of priests, bishops and cardinals accompanied Francis' body Wednesday on its journey from a private viewing inside the Vatican to St Peter's Square. The pageantry contrasted with the human interactions of rank-and-file mourners at the public viewing.

Francis lay in state in an open casket, perched on a ramp facing mourners, with four Swiss Guards standing at attention. As the crowd reached the casket, many lifted their smartphones to snap a photo.

One nun accompanying an elderly woman with a cane walked away sobbing, My pope is gone.

Such despair was rare. The mood was more one of gratitude for a pope who had, by example, taught many people to open their minds.

I am very devoted to the pope, said Ivenes Bianco, who was in Rome from Brindisi, Italy, for an operation. He was important to me because he brought many people together by encouraging coexistence. She cited Francis' acceptance of the gay community and his insistence on helping the poor.

Humbeline Coroy came to Rome from Perpignan, France, for the planned canonisation Sunday of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis, which was suspended after the pope's death. She stayed to pay respects to Francis, enjoying exchanges with Japanese mourners they met as they waited under the sun in St Peter's Square.

For me, it is a lot of things. In my job, I work with disabled children, and I travelled to Madagascar to work with poor people. Being here, and close to the pope, is a way of integrating these experiences, and make them concrete, she said. Coroy also brought prayers for her father, who is sick with cancer.

For Alessandra Nardi, the pope's death brought back memories of the death three years ago of her beloved uncle Luigi, who used to call her from St Peter's Square when he came to see Pope Francis say Mass. He let me hear the bells toll. It was a beautiful thing.

Riccardo Ojedea from Colombia said his experience waiting in line for two hours to pay respects to the pope had shown him how much humanity loves the pope.

He left a very important legacy for everyone, he said, to make this world happier.