People pay their respects Thursday to Pope Francis inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where he lay in state through Friday. Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Heads of state and royalty converged on Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, but the group of poor people who will meet his casket in a small crosstown basilica are more in keeping with Francis’ humble persona and disdain for pomp.

President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei were among the leaders arriving Friday, the last day the Argentine pope lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica before his coffin was sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral Saturday.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is leading a bipartisan delegation of senators to Rome for the funeral.

Collins, who met the pope when he addressed Congress in 2015, said it is a “tremendous honor” to lead the group of five senators.

“Pope Francis’s profound commitment to celebrate the Risen Lord, even on the day before his death, and share God’s grace with people from all walks of life inspired many around the world,” Collins said in a written statement. “He truly embodied God’s boundless love for us all. It is an incredible blessing to have the opportunity to represent the Senate and honor the life of Pope Francis with my colleagues.”

The four other members of the delegation are Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; Edward Markey, D-Mass.; and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

The body of Pope Francis is placed inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where he lay in state for three days. Andrew Medichini/Associated Press

The Vatican said 130 delegations are confirmed, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns.

Paying respects

Tens of thousands of mourners have waited hours in line to bid farewell to Francis, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88. A higher-than-expected turnout prompted the Vatican to extend the basilica’s opening hours overnight.

By noon on Friday, more than 150,000 people had filed past Francis’ open coffin placed in front of the basilica’s main altar to pay their respects — at times praying, at times holding smartphones aloft — despite instructions not to. The late pontiff was laid out in red robes, a bishop’s pointed mitre and a rosary entwined in his hands.

St. Peter’s Basilica remained open most of the second night, closing for just a few hours. Mourners began arriving before dawn, and sprinted into the piazza when security reopened the flows.

Giovanni Guarino drove from Naples with his girlfriend to make their final farewells to Francis, moved by his work to help the young and disadvantaged.

“I hope that his successor follows the footsteps of Francis,” Guarino said.

The three days of public viewing were scheduled to end at 7 p.m. on Friday, after which Francis’ simple wooden coffin was sealed in a private moment.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell will preside over the closing and sealing of the coffin in his role of camerlengo, or interim Vatican administrator. A white cloth will be placed over the pope’s face, and a bag containing coins minted during his papacy will be put in the coffin along with a one-page written account of his papacy.

‘We will see each other again’

Roman neighbors and retired flight attendants Aurelia Ballarini and Francesca Codato came to pay respects to Pope Francis on Friday with very different motivations. Ballarini, 72, was coming to terms with her grief, and Codato, 78, was seeking forgiveness.

For Ballarini, the pope’s death leaves a hole in her life. While only 16 years younger than Francis, she considered him a grandfather figure. Every morning, she would log on to Facebook for his daily greeting, and respond “with a couple of words.”

“He gave everything, gave all of himself, up to the end,’’ said Ballarini. “I spent the last two days crying. I was not well after his passing — I can’t even say the word. For me he flew away. One day, we will see each other again.”

A volunteer, center, gives directions to the crowd waiting to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Francis lay in state, at the Vatican on Friday. Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

Codato feels tremendous guilt about Francis, having forsaken him out of devotion to one of his predecessors, St. John Paul II. When Francis became pope “he was an outsider to me.”

“I feel guilty, because through videos I have seen in these days, I have understood he was a man of enormous humanity, close to the simple people,” she said. “So I came to ask forgiveness, because I feel guilty towards him, like a worm.”

Cardinals ‘are in discussions’

The work of the conclave to choose a new pope won’t start until at least May 5, after nine days of public mourning.

Cardinals have been also been arriving in Rome, with 149 meeting Friday morning to discuss church business. They won’t meet again until next week, meaning a conclave date is unlikely to be set until after the funeral.

Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, who hosted Pope Francis during his last papal trip, to Corsica, last year, remembered Francis as “a free man” who “humanized the church without desacralizing it.”

He described the atmosphere inside the meetings as “good,” but said they were not yet “at the point of decisions; we are in discussions.”

Papal burial

In keeping with Francis’ embrace of the marginalized, the Vatican said a group of poor and needy people will meet the pope’s coffin to pay homage to him when it arrives at St. Mary Major Basilica for burial Saturday. It has already become a point of pilgrimage.

The tomb is being prepared behind a wooden barrier within the basilica that he chose to be near an icon of the Madonna that he revered and often prayed before. The burial will take place in private, the Vatican said.

Photos released by the Vatican on Friday showed the marble tombstone flat against the pavement, with the simple engraving in Latin that he requested in his last testament: “Franciscus”

Cardinals will visit the St. Mary Major Basilica on Sunday. Entering through the Holy Door, they will visit the Salus Populi Romani icon, which was dear to Francis, and celebrate evening prayers, the Vatican said.

Security measures

Italy is deploying more than 2,500 police and 1,500 soldiers to provide security during the funeral, which is expected to gather some 200,000 mourners in St. Peter’s Square and as many as 300,000 people along the 2.5-mile route from the Vatican to the pope’s burial place across Rome.

The major security operation includes stationing an armed naval vessel off the coast, and putting squads of fighter jets on standby, Italian media reported.

Royals and leaders

Trump, traveled with first lady Melania Trump, arrived Friday, after Francis’ coffin has been sealed.

Among the other foreign dignitaries confirmed for the papal funeral are:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and first lady Olena Zelenska
• French President Emmanuel Macron
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
• Britain’s Prince William
• Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva