Star Metro - Pope's Vatican 'family' pay tearful respects

Swiss guards in their brightly coloured uniforms stood either side of the casket laid out for Vatican staff, officials and dignitaries to pay their respects before a public lying-in-state starts Wednesday.

The pontiff, who died on Monday aged 88, was dressed in his papal vestments -- a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes, with rosary beads laced around his fingers.

Before being granted access to the chapel, mourners waited in a marble-tiled hall, where only the faint sounds of whispers punctuated the silence.

In keeping with the humility he preached, Francis chose to live in the Santa Marta residence after becoming pope in 2013, preferring its simplicity and the company of others over the isolated opulence of the Apostolic Palace.

And it was in the residence that the privileged few were invited to pay their respects, away from the prying eyes of the public or the press, before the coffin is transferred to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning.

- 'Gratitude' -

Among the visitors to the chapel were a mix of religious and lay people, from bishops, members of dicasteries -- the Vatican's government departments -- and top Curia officials to gardeners, firefighters and medical staff who work in the tiny city state. Italy's President Sergio Mattarella was also among early mourners.

They were allowed in groups into the elegant air-conditioned chapel on the ground floor of the residence.

Some prayed in silence, others could not hold back tears. Lowering their heads or making the sign of the cross, they spent a moment in quiet reflection, some kneeling.

"There's an atmosphere of contemplation and prayer, but for those of us who accompanied him, this seems unreal," a Brazilian laywoman and member of a communication dicastery told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

"I was there for his election, I followed him throughout his pontificate, so I couldn't miss out on seeing him here, at Santa Marta, which was his house -- in a way it was also partly ours."

She said she felt "a lot of gratitude" and "simply wanted to embrace him".

- 'Great peace' -

In his down-to-earth style, the man born as Jorge Bergoglio ate meals every day in the dining hall of the residence, amongst the employees, whom he never failed to greet.

"I felt like it was his family, the people of Santa Marta and the Vatican, who came here to pay tribute to him, with great tenderness," said a member of a dicastery who paid their respects.

"It reminded me of a mass with Vatican employees. What struck me was that the pope was sitting on one of the benches amongst the faithful."

During the Covid pandemic in 2020, the Vatican broadcast masses celebrated by Francis in the chapel to Catholics living in confinement across the globe.

On Monday morning, the 266th Bishop of Rome died in his 70 square metre (750 square feet) apartment on the second floor of the residence.

A Polish nun, who works at the Umberto I hospital in Rome, said she had felt "great peace" when she prayed next to his coffin.

"But most of all I wanted to pay homage for everything he did for the Church," she added, her eyes welling up.

O.Poirier--SMC