Vatican City (AFP) - Thousands of people queued for hours Thursday to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis’s body on the second day of public tributes, after St Peter’s Basilica stayed open all night to accomodate the crowds.

More than 50,000 people filed past the Catholic leader’s red-lined wooden coffin during the first 24 hours of his lying in state, the Vatican said.

On Thursday, with no let-up in the crowds, the Vatican said that figure had risen to 61,000 by 1:00 pm (1100 GMT).

The basilica had been due to close at midnight Wednesday but stayed open until 5.30 am, the Vatican said.

When it reopened again at 7:00 am for the day, the queue quickly stretched long past the two entry points at St Peter’s Square, where 82-year-old Roman Amerigo Iacovacci was waiting patiently.

“I’m here because of the great faith that unites me with Pope Francis,” he said. “He was a great man, he was the father of the least fortunate, of the invisible.”

Friends Florencia Soria and Ana Sofia Alicata, both 26 and – like Francis – from Argentina, came prepared for the long wait with coffees and wondered whether the light rain might work in their favour.

“We’re here and we hope it will go as well as possible, with people leaving because of the rain,” joked Soria, although the sun soon re-emerged.

- World leaders expected -

Francis died on Monday aged 88, after 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed the most vulnerable and marginalised in society.

His funeral on Saturday is expected to draw huge crowds as well as world leaders including Donald Trump.

Italy is preparing a massive security operation for the ceremony, which will be held in front of St Peter’s Basilica. The pope’s coffin will then be transferred across Rome to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Lined in red silk, the pope’s wooden coffin has been set before St Peter’s altar, with Francis dressed in his papal vestments – a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes – with a rosary in his hands.

Each mourner was ushered past the casket within seconds, many hurriedly catching the moment on their smartphones.

“It was a brief but intense moment next to his body,” Italian Massimo Palo, 63, told AFP after his visit.

“He was a pope amongst his flock, amongst his people, and I hope the next papacies will be a bit like his,” he added.

- Massive security operation -

Francis, who suffered a stroke, died at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican less than a month after he was released from five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among those who paid her respects on Wednesday, and scores of world leaders and dignitaries plan to attend the funeral.

They include Argentine President Javier Milei and Britain’s Prince William. Russia, which has for centuries had strained ties with the Vatican, said it would send its culture minister.

The authorities, who expect up to 170 foreign delegations, have ramped up security for the funeral.

A defence source told AFP the air force had already deployed electromagnetic devices to prevent drones from flying over the city.

Italy’s civil protection agency estimates that “several hundred thousand” people will descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday.

- No conclave date yet -

After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

His will requested that he be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus. People will be able to visit it from Sunday morning, the Vatican announced.

Following that, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis’s successor.

Cardinals from around the world are returning to Rome for the conclave, which will begin no fewer than 15 days and no more than 20 days after a pope’s death.

Only those under the age of 80 – currently some 135 cardinals – are eligible to vote.

They have held a series of meetings to discuss preparations for the funeral and looming conclave.

Cardinals have agreed that the traditional nine days of mourning for the pope, the so-called “novemdiales”, will begin on Saturday and conclude on May 4.

However, the Vatican brushed aside hopes of an announcement of the conclave date, insisting the focus is on the funeral.

At the time of his death, Francis was under doctors’ orders to rest for two months.

But the headstrong pope continued to make public appearances despite appearing tired and short of breath.

On Easter Sunday, one day before he died, he circled St Peter’s Square in his popemobile to greet the crowds, stopping to kiss babies along the way.