These are the images of St. Peter's Square at 10:30 p.m. on the first day of the pope's public wake. After the reopening of one of the entrances, thousands of faithful rushed to line up to enter the basilica.
In fact, the initial schedule set by the Vatican was until midnight and, due to the large influx of pilgrims, it had to be extended until 5:30 in the morning.
In total, almost 50,000 pilgrims managed to enter during the whole day. In fact, in the first eight hours alone, some 20,000 entered.
Also, for this global event, about 4,000 journalists from all over the world have been accredited, including reporters, photographers and cameramen.
And, in terms of security, the plan in place includes several points with massive controls before arriving in the square, in addition to a police deployment, which involves almost all the Italian police forces.
JH
