WATCH | Pope’s body transferred to St Peter’s Basilica as pilgrims descend on Rome

The body of Pope Francis was on Wednesday morning transferred to St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where he will lie in state until Saturday.

The Rite of Translation, as it is known, from the Casa Santa Marta, where the body has been kept since Monday, was led by members of the College of Cardinals present in Rome.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, began the liturgical rite in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta with a brief prayer for the soul of Pope Francis.

In the opening prayer, Cardinal Farrell thanked God for the 12-year ministry of the late pope.

The College of Cardinals then led the procession of the coffin through the Vatican’s Santa Marta Square, under the Arch of the Bells, and into St Peter’s Square. More than 20,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square under the hot sun to pay their last respects.

Thousands of pilgrims have been arriving in Rome ahead of Saturday's funeral, which is expected to take place outside St Peter's Basilica (Photo: Adriana Farrugia/MaltaToday)

Adriana Farrugia told MaltaToday that people from all over the world had been gathering since 6am outside the basilica. “It's a very humbling experience,” she said of the sombre atmosphere that hangs over the square.

She is present in Rome along with her siblings. Originally, the trip was to attend the canonisation of Carlo Acutis, which had to take place on Sunday. The canonisation was postponed to a later date because of the pope's death. Acutis was born in 1991 and died at the age of 15 from leukaemia in 2006. He is set to become the first millennial canonised a saint.

Farrugia said security in and around St Peter’s Square is very tight.

Thousands more visitors are expected to descend on Rome to attend Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday. The funeral will be held outside St Peter’s Basilica.

The pope’s body will lie in state inside the Vatican basilica until then and pilgrims will be queuing to pay their last respects.

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday after suffering a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible heart failure. Only a day earlier, he had descended in St Peter's Square to meet pilgrims gathered there for Easter celebrations.

The pope was hospitalised in February after suffering a severe bout of pneumonia but was discharged a couple of weeks ago. He had been recovering at the Vatican.

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