Priests, pilgrims and cardinals dressed in black robes and red sashes mixed in the streets of the Vatican on Thursday as tens of thousands of Catholics paid their respects to Pope Francis and preparations for the funeral accelerated.
The conclave to select the next pope has not yet started — the Vatican has not announced the date when voting will begin — but cardinals on Thursday morning held their third congregation meeting in the Holy See’s apostolic palace since Francis died on Easter Monday.
During the gatherings, the cardinals decide on the logistics of the mourning period, but Vatican experts say they can also set the agenda for the conclave and privately lay out their priorities as they get ready to choose the next pope. More cardinals have arrived in Rome in recent days ahead of Francis’ funeral on Saturday.
As they trickled out of a door in the Vatican near the Sant’Anna church on Wednesday, after their second meeting since Francis died, some cardinals outlined topics that they wanted the church to focus on.
“The central point is the preaching of the authentic faith as it is,” said one conservative cardinal, Mauro Piacenza.
Most of the cardinals’ decisions that have been publicly disclosed have related to arrangements for Francis’ funeral and commemorations, but the churchmen will also need to pick a date for the conclave.
During one of the congregation meetings before the 2013 conclave, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio gave a speech that emphasized the church’s duty to reach those at the “peripheries.” The speech made a significant mark, and Cardinal Bergoglio was elected in the ensuing conclave, becoming Pope Francis.
Since Wednesday, about 50,000 people have paid their respects to Francis, whose body was lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said. Thousands more were lining up in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday morning.
“Pope Francis is watching us from up there,” said Bruna Donato, 70, one of the mourners. “He knows who goes and who doesn’t.”
