This is incredible. Authorities are apparently saying that there could be as many as four million people coming to see the pope. (Rome has a population of three million.)
This is from the NY Times:
Vatican officials said in this city of three million, one million people had seen the pope's body since it went on public display on Monday. Viewing is to end Thursday evening, and safety officials, concerned with the size of the crowd and recognizing the wait to see the body would exceed 24 hours, sent warnings on the radio and through text messages to cellphones advising people to stay away. Eventually they decided to close the line to newcomers....
The line had grown so big that it split in two - one curving through the narrow streets near the Vatican and a second along the Tiber River - amid much strain and a striking mix of the spiritual and the physical: there were songs and prayers and remarkable patience, as well as fatigue, sunburn and a bit of borderline bad behavior....
Each day since the pope's death, the crowds have grown by bounds, though they have consisted mostly of Italians, tourists already in Italy, and some from Poland, the pope's home country. But on Wednesday, people began flowing in from the outside....
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