The China Mail - Multitudes line up for second day to view pope

Some 90,000 people had filed past the late Catholic leader's red-lined wooden coffin in the first day and a half that it lay in state at St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.

Vatican and Italian authorities have placed the area around St Peter's under tight security ahead of Saturday's ceremony in front of the basilica that is expected to draw huge crowds as well as world leaders including US President Donald Trump.

Such was the demand to see the pope that Vatican authorities extended visiting hours on Wednesday from midnight until 5:30 am.

After a break of just 90 minutes, the doors reopened, with authorities saying the window would be extended on Thursday night if necessary.

On Thursday, the queue quickly stretched far past the two entry points to St Peter's Square, where spirits were high despite the long wait.

"It's true that it feels oppressive but at the same time you all feel united, everyone happy," French woman Laure Du Moulin who visited with her family, told AFP.

"Everyone seems enthusiastic, fraternal, like a big community."

Florencia Soria and Ana Sofia Alicata, both 26 and -- like Francis -- from Argentina, came prepared for a long wait with coffees and wondered whether the light rain might work in their favour.

"We're here and we hope it will go as well as possible, with people leaving because of the rain," joked Soria, although the sun soon returned.

- World leaders expected -

Francis died on Monday aged 88, after 12 years as head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed the most vulnerable in society.

Lined in red silk, the pope's wooden coffin has been set before St Peter's altar, with Francis dressed in his papal vestments -- a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes -- with a rosary in his hands.

Mourners were ushered past the casket in just seconds, while authorities on Thursday banned the use of smartphones inside the Basilica.

"It was a brief but intense moment next to his body," Italian Massimo Palo, 63, told AFP.

"He was a pope amongst his flock, amongst his people, and I hope the next papacies will be a bit like his," he added.

Italian football coach Claudio Ranieri and several players form his top flight Roma side were amongst the visitors on Thursday.

The coffin is to be sealed on Friday at 8:00 pm in a special ceremony presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo who is running the Vatican's day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected.

- Massive security operation -

Francis, who suffered a stroke, died at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican less than a month after he was released from five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.

The Vatican said on Thursday that 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs will attend the funeral. Alongside Trump, they include Argentina's President Javier Milei and Britain's Prince William.

At least 130 foreign delegations have confirmed their attendance, the Vatican said.

Authorities have put fighter jets on standby, deployed electromagnetic devices to prevent drones from flying over the city and will have snipers stationed on rooftops.

Further check-points will be activated on Friday night, police said.

Italy's civil protection agency estimates that "several hundred thousand" people will descend on Rome.

- No conclave date yet -

After the funeral, Francis's coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome's papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

A group of "poor and needy" will be at the basilica to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.

He will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus. People will be able to visit it from Sunday, the Vatican announced.

Following that, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis's successor.

Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was Francois's number two, is the favourite with British bookmakers William Hill, ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila.

Cardinals from around the world are returning to Rome for the conclave, which must begin no fewer than 15 days and no more than 20 days after a pope's death.

Only those under the age of 80 -- currently some 135 cardinals -- are eligible to vote.

They have already held meetings to discuss preparations for the funeral and looming conclave.

Cardinals have agreed that the traditional nine days of mourning for the pope, the so-called "novemdiales", will begin on Saturday and conclude on May 4.

At the time of his death, Francis was under doctors' orders to rest for two months but had continued to make public appearances right up until Easter Sunday.

A.Zhang--ThChM