Catholics in their thousands have begun queueing at the Vatican to pay their respects to the former pope Benedict XVI.
The 95 year old former leader of the catholic church died on Saturday and his body was transferred from a Vatican monastery to St Peter’s Basilica on Monday at 7am, where it lay in state for three days before his funeral on Thursday.
According to Rome officials, at least 35,000 people a day will descend on the Vatican to pay their respects to Benedict, who almost a decade ago became the first pope to resign in 600 years, with many travelling from overseas.
“The queue is moving pretty steadily, and there is a calm and serene atmosphere,” said Christopher White, the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.
Among the first people to enter St Peter’s Basilica, where Benedict’s body has been laid out on a casket covered with a gold cloth in front of the altar, were the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
