Huge crowds expected as Pope Francis lies in state

Huge crowds were expected yesterday for a glimpse of Pope Francis’s body on the second day of public tributes, after St Peter's Basilica stayed open almost all night to accommodate the crowds.

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Close to 20,000 people filtered past the Catholic leader's red-lined wooden coffin in the first eight hours of the lying in state on Wednesday.

Instead of closing at midnight, it allowed people in until 5.30am on Thursday morning, before reopening at 7am, the Vatican said.

Italy is preparing a massive security operation for the funeral in front of St Peter's, with world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky due to join hundreds of thousands of mourners.

Pope Francis died on Monday after 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, during which time he made a name for himself as a pope of the marginalised.

Mourners queued for up to four hours on Wednesday to say their goodbyes to Pope Francis, who was dressed in his papal vestments — a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes — and held a rosary.

Each mourner was ushered past the casket within seconds, many hurriedly catching the moment on their smartphones.

Argentine Federico Rueda, 46, said that despite the rush, he would not have missed the opportunity.