Tens of thousands file into St. Peter's Basilica to pay final respects to Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY (AP) — So many mourners lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state in a simple wooden coffin inside St. Peter’s Basilica that the Vatican kept the doors open all night due to higher-than-expected turnout, closing the basilica for just an hour and a half Thursday morning for cleaning.

The basilica was bathed in a hushed silence as mourners from across the globe made a slow, shuffling procession up the main aisle to pay their last respects to Francis, who died Monday at age 88 after a stroke.

The Vatican said more than 90,000 people had paid their respects by Thursday evening, a day and a half after opening. The basilica closed for just a short time Thursday morning, and will stay open Thursday night as long as there are mourners, the Vatican said.

The hours spent on line up the stately via della Conciliazione through St. Peter's Square and through the Holy Door into the basilica has allowed mourners to find community around the Argentine pontiff's legacy of inclusion and humble persona.

Emiliano Fernandez, a Catholic from Mexico, was waiting in line around midnight, and after two hours still had not reached the basilica.

“I don't even care how much time I wait here. It's just the opportunity to (show) how I admired Francisco in his life,'' said Fernandez, whose admiration for the pope grew during his 2016 visit to Mexico.

Robert Healy, a pilgrim from Ireland, flew on the spur of the moment from Dublin just to pay his respects.

“I think it's just really important to be here, to show our respect to the Holy Father,'' he said. "We flew from Dublin last night, we’re staying for one day, home tonight then. We just felt it was really important to be here.”

Among the first-day mourners was a church group of 14-year-olds from near Milan who arrived for the now-suspended canonization of the first millennial saint, as well as a woman who prayed to the pope for a successful operation and an Italian family who brought their small children to see the pope’s body.

“We came because we didn’t bring them when he was alive, so we thought we would bring them for a final farewell,’’ said Rosa Scorpati, who was exiting the basilica Wednesday with her three children in strollers. “They were good, but I don’t think they really understood because they haven’t yet had to deal with death.”

Like many others, the Scorpati family from Calabria was in Rome on an Easter vacation, only to be met with the news of Francis’ death on Easter Monday.

Out of devotion to the pope and his message of inclusion, the grieving faithful joined the procession of mourners that wended from St. Peter’s Square through the basilica's Holy Door, with the repentant among them winning an indulgence, a form of atonement granted during the Jubilee Holy Year. From there, the line extended down the basilica’s central aisle to the pope’s simple wooden casket.

After three days of public viewing, a funeral Mass including heads of state will be held Saturday in St. Peter's Square. The pope will then be buried in a niche within the St. Mary Major Basilica, near his favorite Madonna icon.

Italian authorities have tightened security around the Vatican, adding drones to foot and horse patrols to their controls along the Tiber River and Via della Conciliazione, which leads to St. Peter's Square, to secure the area for mourners and foreign delegation expected for the funeral.

The Vatican said 130 delegations are confirmed, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns. Among those confirming their attendance are U.S. President Donald Trump with the First Lady Melania Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The prefect of Rome, Lamberto Giannini, told a news conference on Thursday that “I believe that the ‘security machine’ is ready,'' but will remain flexible and ”ready to reshape and above all transmit a sense of serenity.''

The death of Franci s capped a 12-year pontificate characterized by his concern for the poor and his message of inclusion, but he was also criticized by some conservatives who felt alienated by his progressive outlook.

A procession of priests, bishops and cardinals accompanied Francis’ body Wednesday on its journey from a private viewing inside the Vatican to St. Peter’s Square. The pageantry contrasted with the human interactions of rank-and-file mourners at the public viewing.

Francis lay in state in an open casket, perched on a ramp facing mourners, with four Swiss Guards standing at attention. As the crowd reached the casket, many lifted their smartphones to snap a photo.

One nun accompanying an elderly woman with a cane walked away sobbing, “My pope is gone.’’

Such despair was rare. The mood was more one of gratitude for a pope who had, by example, taught many people to open their minds.

“I am very devoted to the pope,'' said Ivenes Bianco, who was in Rome from Brindisi, Italy, for an operation. ”He was important to me because he brought many people together by encouraging coexistence.'' She cited Francis' acceptance of the gay community and his insistence on helping the poor.

Humbeline Coroy came to Rome from Perpignan, France, for the planned canonization Sunday of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis, which was suspended after the pope’s death. She stayed to pay respects to Francis, enjoying exchanges with Japanese mourners they met as they waited under the sun in St. Peter’s Square.

“For me, it is a lot of things. In my job, I work with disabled children, and I traveled to Madagascar to work with poor people. Being here, and close to the pope, is a way of integrating these experiences, and make them concrete,’’ she said.

Cardinals continued to arrive in Rome for Saturday's funeral, and numbered 113 by Thursday. During a morning session "the cardinals started a conversation on the church and the world,'' the details of which remain private.

No sooner than May 5, after nine days of official mourning, cardinals under 80 years of age will meet in a conclave to choose a new pope. That number is expected to be 134, after Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares said he would not make it to Rome for health reasons. Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic, meanwhile, confirmed his participation after getting cleared by doctors, the Sarajevo diocese said.

“We have not yet opened the Conclave, and one feels that,'' said French Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, arriving for the cardinals' meeting. "For the moment I do not believe the cardinals are saying ‘who will be the next?’ For the moment we are here completely for Francis.”

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AP video journalists Trisha Thomas, Franceso Sportelli and Isaia Montelione in Vatican City and AP writer Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia contributed.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle leads a rosary prayer outside the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, right, leaves after a rosary prayer outside the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, center, leads a rosary prayer outside the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, where the late Pope Francis will be buried, in Rome, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People line up to enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People line up along Via della Conciliazione avenue to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, seen in the background, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People walk along Via della Conciliazione avenue to line up to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, seen in the background, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Carabinieri paramilitary police patrol St. Peter's Square as people line up to enter St. Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis is lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

People wait in line under the rain to enter St.Peter's Basilica to view Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A group of four nuns, center left, wait in line with other people to view Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A faithful holds a rosary while waiting in line to enter St.Peter's Basilica to view Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

People line up as they enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A woman takes a picture of a photograph of the late Pope Francis, that reads "Please, don't forget to pray for me" during a mass in his memory at the Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia outside the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People line up as they enter St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Faithful pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful pay their respects to Pope Francis lying in state inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell, center right, spreads incense around the body of Pope Francis inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where he will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The body of Pope Francis is carried through St. Peter's Square to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where he will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People gather in St. Peter's Square as they await the arrival of the body of Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Faithful gather to pay their respects to Pope Francis inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where his body will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Faithful at St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025 as the body of the late Pope Francis will lie in state inside St. Peter's Basilica for three days. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where he will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A gull flies above people waiting in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Nuns sit in the Chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia, outside Vatican City, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Faithful gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025 as the body of the late Pope Francis will lie in state inside St. Peter's Basilica for three days. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Men attend a rosary prayer for the late Pope Francis, at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

People queue to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)