CNN – Vatican officials are asking visitors not to take selfies with the late Pope Francis as he lies in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
Almost 130,000 people have paid their respects to the pontiff, many queuing for hours to glimpse him lying in an open coffin, the Vatican said in a statement.
And while many bowed their heads in reflection and prayer, others held their mobile phones aloft, trying to take photos of Francis at rest, CNN footage filmed on Wednesday inside the basilica showed.
Videos posted on TikTok captured people stopping in front of the coffin to pose for selfies too. “So disrespectful,” read one comment, which has received more than 7,000 likes.
By Thursday, officials were telling visitors to put their phones away and not take photos as they passed the coffin, after they faced criticism for not effectively policing phone use the previous day.
It is forbidden for anyone to photograph or film the pontiff on “his sickbed or after death” … a directive issued by the Vatican in 1996 reads …
