(NewsNation) — St. Peter’s Basilica extended its hours again Thursday to accommodate the tens of thousands of people lined up to pay their respects to Pope Francis.
The basilica remained open until 2:30 a.m. local time on Friday morning and reopened at 5:40 a.m., signaling a bustling start to the final day for public goodbyes to the pontiff. Thursday saw similar schedule adjustments.
Around 1 p.m. local time Thursday, Italy’s Civil Protection Department sent an alert warning extended visiting hours would not carry into Friday.
“Farewell to Pope Francis. Access to St. Peter’s Square will close at 5 PM on April 25,” the alert said.
More than 125,000 have visited the basilica since the public mourning period began Wednesday, the Vatican said.
Francis, who died Monday at 88, will remain in his simple, open casket at the basilica until his burial Saturday.
Pope Francis’ funeral: How to watch
Francis’ funeral service will be held at 4 a.m. EDT.
The proceedings will begin with a funeral mass in St. Peter’s Square — which is expected to be attended by international heads of state — and then Francis will be laid to rest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, near his favorite Madonna icon.
You can watch the funeral on NewsNation’s cable channel and NewsNation’s site and app. Not sure how to watch NewsNation? Find your channel here.
Who is attending Pope Francis’ funeral?
More than 130 delegations are slated to attend Francis’ funeral, including President Donald Trump.
Former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden will also attend, spokesperson Kelly Scully confirmed to NewsNation on Thursday.
Javier Milei, president of Francis’ native Argentina, is also expected to attend.
Reuters has reported the following world leaders will also attend the funeral:
- Prince William of Britain’s royal family
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
- Bangladeshi interim leader Muhammad Yunus
- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and first lady Janja Lula de Silva
- Croatian President Zoran Milanovic
- Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala
- Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof
- Estonian President Alar Karis
- Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa
- Finnish President Alexander Stubb
- Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz
- Honduran President Xiomara Castro
- Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok
- Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin
- Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics
- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda
- Moldovan President Maia Sandu
- New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
- Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit
- Romania’s interim President Ilie Bolojan
- Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia
- Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson
- Switzerland’s President Karin Keller-Sutter
- Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Council President Antonio Costa, Parliament President Roberta Metsola
- East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Bendito Freitas
- Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and Prime Minister Bart De Wever
Vice President JD Vance will not attend, a White House official told NewsNation. Vance visited Francis during a brief meeting on Easter Sunday, the day before the pontiff died.
NewsNation’s Ashley N. Soriano, Patrick Djordjevic, Jeff Arnold and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Author: Robert Sherman
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