As Pope Francis lies in state, Catholics gather in Rome to say goodbye

Maria Pia Caruso travelled to Rome from her hometown in northern Italy after she learnt Pope Francis had died at age 88, to say a last goodbye to a pontiff she believes brought important changes to the Catholic Church.

Caruso entered St Peter's Square with her husband at 7am to make sure they had a seat to watch the solemn procession bringing the pope's body to St Peter's Basilica, where it will lie in state for three days.

“This pope has been really important,” said Caruso, speaking with her husband Roberto Vallone. "[Francis] has changed many things, let's hope his successor continues with these changes and there is no going back.”

Catholic faithful — already expected in Rome in large numbers for the Easter holiday and the ongoing Catholic Holy Year — will be allowed to pay their last respects to the pope until Friday evening.

The funeral, which will bring US President Donald Trump and other world leaders to Rome, will take place on Saturday morning. Italian authorities expect about 200,000 people to attend.

“This is the first time I have come to pay my respects to a pope,” said Maria Russo, an Italian volunteer at Rome's Bambino Gesu children's hospital.

She said she met Francis during a weekly papal audience in St Peter's Square last year and gifted him a red clown nose, something medical personnel wear to cheer their patients.

The moving of the pope's body occurred under a hot spring sun in Rome. Crowds were watching from the large esplanade in St Peter's Square in front of the basilica, while bells gently tolled and a male choir sang chants.

Some pilgrims had also travelled to Rome for the expected ceremony for Francis to proclaim the church's first saint from the millennial generation, which was to have been held on Sunday, but has now been postponed indefinitely.

US pilgrim Sylvia Cantu Stewart said she had come to see Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia at age 15 in 2006, become a saint. “Our plans have changed and we feel it's God's [plan] that we're here,” she said, adding she felt “blessed” by the coincidence.

Francis, birth name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was from Argentina and the first Catholic pontiff from the Western hemisphere.

Some of his Argentinian compatriots were also in the crowd in front of the Basilica. Francis left his homeland in 2013 to become head of the church and never returned to visit.

“In recent years he has not had a close relationship with Argentina,” said Argentinian Sofia Solari. “But we, my family, understand him. Even if there are many in Argentina who are not so happy because he has [stayed] away.”

Reuters