Hightenance, shock and sadness in the endless ranks to give the last goodbye to Pope Francis

In the endless ranks of pilgrims who want to give the last goodbye to Pope Francis, whose coffin already rests open in the Basilica of San Pedro, they emerge, above all, feelings such as sorrow, shock and sadness.

“God has taken it too soon,” says Carmina who had come to Rome from southern Italy for the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week and that, after the news of his death, decided to extend his stay.

“I didn’t want to leave without seeing him for the last time. I was here on Sunday and I saw him pass from afar, I can’t believe that he is no longer,” says Aci Prensa while protecting the sun with an umbrella.

In the Plaza de San Pedro, the thousands of chairs that had been placed to follow the Mass of Easter Sunday, one of the most important celebrations for Christians, and will now serve to welcome the tens of thousands of people who are expected to participate in the funeral of the Pontiff that the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin will follow in place.

“Here he toured the place aboard the Papamóvil. It seems as if he wanted to say goodbye,” he says.

Beside him, a group of nuns whisper with a rosary in his hands while they are supported by one of the bars with which the police have created a kind of corridor to coordinate the entry ordered to the Basilica of San Pedro.

“We have no strength to speak or to do an interview,” says one of them with the basins of the eyes soaked.

Later, a Colombian priest who is studying in Rome says that although they knew that “he was very sick”, it has been a “surprise.”

He has continued from the large screens installed in the Plaza de San Pedro the entrance of the coffin with the body of Pope Francis and confesses that he has cried when “the bells of the temple taño died.” “The whole square has begun to applaud in tribute to the pontiff who died on Monday,” he recalls.

“He has been a great Pope,” says Carlo, a young university student who points out that although he considers herself agnostic she wants to approach the late Pontiff. This young man carries, like everyone in line, five hours in the sun.

In the coming and going of people who want to enter the basilica, there are also moments of traffic jam in which strangers talk and even make friends. “We all come from Spain. We have just met and we will live this experience together,” says Pedro.

In the middle of the crowd, we also find two priests who work in the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. They have had the privilege of being part of the courtship that has accompanied the mortal remains of Pope Francis from the Santa Marta house.

Fr. Nicolaus is German and for the most important thing is to pray for the Church at the moment of a certain orphanage.

“We have prayed for the Holy Father and we will now pray for the Catholic Church and for the future, giving thanks for everything he has done and praying for the next Pope who will come,” he says.

“We pray for the unity of the Church that is very important at the moment,” concludes Fr. Giovanni, Italian.