Up to 300 000 mourners expected in Rome for Pope’s funeral

But the Eternal City has seen far bigger crowds.

The funeral of a pope is always a very major event in Rome. With rough estimates of between 200-300,000 mourners, the Eternal City will be overwhelmed on April 26.

But this is obviously not the first papal funeral, and some attracted even larger crowds.

·         In 1963, about 3 million faithful turned up for the funeral of Pope John XXIII.

·         For the funeral of Pope Pius XII on October 10, 1958, it is estimated that about 500 thousand faithful were present for the "Pastor Angelicus".

·         Pope John XXIII’s funeral in 1963 attracted about 3 million faithful as he was loved by the people and by the Romans.

·         In August 1978, about 100,000 people attended the funeral of Paul VI and the same number for Pope John Paul I, on October 4 of the same year, after just 33 days of pontificate.

·         Some 3 million accompanied the funeral of John Paul II in 2005.

Protocol and security on high alert

The authorities are anxious to understand the numbers of people that might attend, as they must foresee the flow of pedestrians and traffic in and around the Vatican, as well as ensuring that adequate emergency services are available. Protocol and security services will also be working overtime over the weekend to deal with the high number of senior foreign leaders that will likely attend.

As the funeral coincides with considerable political turmoil, there will doubtless be many meetings organised alongside the funeral itself.

(Michael Leahy - Source: RomaToday et al - Picture: Unsplash)