The tomb, which was opened to the public on the second of nine days of official mourning, had crowds on Sunday. A conclave to choose his successor is scheduled for May 5 and May 10.
Ushers urged visitors to keep moving so that the steady stream of visitors could bid farewell outside St. Mary’s Basilica.
The Argentinian pontiff, who passed away on April 21, 1988, was interred in a modest white marble tomb close to a Madonna icon, which he so revered.
Pope Francis was an inspiration and a guide to me, according to Elias Caravalhal, a resident of Rome who had to leave St. Peter’s Basilica to offer thanks at the tomb.
Reflecting on the site’s simplicity, Polish pilgrim Maria Brzezinska declared, “It’s exactly the Pope’s way.” He was straightforward, and now he is.
Francis decided to be buried outside the Vatican, breaking with centuries-old customs, and choosing Rome as his final destination.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and a potential successor to pope, conducted a special mass earlier on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square.
Parolin paid tribute to Francis in a speech addressed to a crowd of 200, 000 people, many of whom were young pilgrims who had initially gathered for Carlo Acutis’ planned canonization.
Pope Francis, the shepherd the Lord gave to his people, has given up his earthly life and left us, he claimed. We are experiencing all of this, including the grief caused by his departure and the sadness that plagues us.
Susmidah Murphy from Kerala, India, was one of those who was mourning. She said, “It’s unbelievable that he’s no longer with us.” “It’s sad. This is not a very common occurrence for popes.
Source: Aljazeera
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