The Vatican said more than 128,000 people have already paid tribute to Pope Francis, whose body is in St Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral, AFP reports.

The Holy See is making final preparations for Pope Francis' funeral as the last huge crowd of mourners file through St Peter's Basilica to see the open coffin.

Many of the 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs who will attend Saturday's ceremony (26 April) in St Peter's Square, including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, are expected to arrive in Rome on 25 April.

Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St Peter's Square under tight security with drones blocked, snipers on rooftops and fighter jets on standby.

Police said additional checkpoints would be activated on Friday (25 April) evening. 

In the morning hours of April 25, huge crowds of people filled the Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue leading to the Vatican, for the third and final day of the Pope's stay in the temple. The coffin will be closed at 8 p.m. (local time) in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals.

For the second night in a row, the Vatican left St. Peter's open past the scheduled hours to accommodate the lines, closing the doors only between 2:30 p.m. and 5:40 a.m. on April 25.

The Catholic Church's first Latin American pope died April 21 at the age of 88, less than a month after spending weeks in the hospital with severe pneumonia. | BGNES