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Pope Francis’s body has been moved from his residence at the Vatican to lie in state at St Peter’s Basilica
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There was applause from the crowds as the procession made its way through St Peter’s Square
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You can watch our coverage live at the top of this page
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The public will be allowed to file past the open coffin from 10:00 BST (11:00 local time)
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The Pope died on Monday morning – his funeral will take place on Saturday, attended by leaders from around the world
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In pictures: Pope transported to St Peter’s Square in solemn processionpublished at 11:00
The Pope’s coffin is now inside St Peter’s Basilica and there it will remain lying in state until the funeral on 26 April.
The procession lasted a little under 40 minutes, and saw the body being moved from Casa Santa Marta, where Francis died on Monday, through St Peter’s Square and the crowds of worshippers waiting to pay their final respects.
Image source,Reuters
Image source,Reuters
Image source,Reuters
Image source,Getty Images -
Hundreds join crowds in the square within the last 30 minutespublished at 10:53
Laura Gozzi
Reporting from Vatican City
Image source,ReutersIn the last half hour the square has filled up a lot – hundreds of people have come in and are watching the images from inside the basilica on the giant screen outside.
Many will undoubtedly now flock inside St Peter’s to see the pope’s body from much closer.
Our previous post had details on when the Basilica will be open for the public to pay respects.
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Pope’s body is ‘as he died’, biographer sayspublished at 10:45
Image source,ReutersPope Francis’s body is now inside St Peter’s Basilica, where he will be lying in state until his funeral on Saturday.
Austen Ivereigh, Pope Francis’s biographer, tells BBC News that coins minted during his pontificate – one for each year of his tenure – will have been placed in a bag in the coffin.
The bodies of popes used to be embalmed in the past, but that’s not mandatory nowadays, Ivereigh explains.
The biographer says something will have been done to the Pope’s body to help delay the process of decomposition, but other than that “he is as he died”.
Yesterday, the Vatican released several photographs of the Pope lying in an open coffin in his former residence, the BBC looked at the symbolism on show in the images.
