Some 40,000 faithful flocked to late
pope emeritus Benedict XVI's lying in state between nine in the
morning and two in the afternoon Monday, the Vatican said.
The total is set to rise significantly by the end of the first
of three days of the mourning ceremony at seven o'clock pm, they
said.
The body of the German late former pope, who died on New Year's
Eve aged 95, will lie in state for three days, until Wednesday
evening, ahead of his funeral in St Peter's Thursday.
The Vatican said it was hard to estimate how many mourners will
have paid their respects by then.
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