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Huge crowds at Vatican ahead of Pope's funeral
The Freeman
|April 26, 2025
The Vatican was making final preparations Friday for Pope Francis's funeral as the last of the huge crowds of mourners filed through St Peter's Basilica to view his open coffin.
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Many of the 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs attending Saturday's ceremony in St Peter's Square, including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, are expected to arrive later Friday in Rome.
Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St Peter's under tight security with drones blocked, snipers on roofs and fighter jets on standby.
Further check-points will be activated on Friday night, police said.
Vast crowds of people on Friday morning packed Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue leading to the Vatican, for the third and final day of the pope's lying-in-state.
This story is from the April 26, 2025 edition of The Freeman.
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