'I entered St. Peter's Basilica twice,' Catalans bid farewell to Pope Francis

Massive queues at the Vatican Saint Peter's Basilica to bid farewell to late Pope Francis during the last hours, among them, the bishop of Tortosa, in southern Catalonia, and many Catalan congregations.

"Yesterday, I was able to enter twice to see him, but I feel he has resurrected," Judit Padrós, a Catholic from Sant Celoni, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) while queuing on Friday afternoon.

She is one of the thousands of people who have traveled to the Vatican City for a last prayer for the pontiff after he passed away on Monday, aged 88 and after 13 years of papacy.

"I am living it with great joy and internal peace, and with a wealth of emotions for being here, experiencing the love we feel," she added.

Her youngest daughter gifted her the farewell trip to Pope Francis, after not being able to come when Pope John Paul II died in 2005. "It is an amazing pilgrimage, I cannot explain what I am feeling," she said.

Padrós defends the idea that she would like the next Pope to "continue with Pope Francis' legacy," although she is aware that "each person has their own ideas." Padrós says that Pope Francis has "resurrected, and he is in heaven, and for me, this is a gift and a joy to be able to be here."

Bishops and cardinals

Among the thousands of travelers in Rome, there are dozens of bishops and cardinals, such as Sergi Gordo, from the southern Catalan city of Tortosa.

He believes that the work Pope Francis has started "cannot be erased," and backs a continuist papacy.

Gordo was "shocked" after bidding a last farewell to the pontiff, who named him bishop and auxiliary in Barcelona.

Pope Francis, Gordo says, "has left us with very high standards, and he gave us homework before leaving this world."