Armoured funeral for the Pope with anti-drone radar and bazookas, and destroyers

Seamlessly thousands of faithful continue to arrive at the Vatican to give a final farewell to Pope Francis. It continues for the third consecutive day the great flow of people who want to pay their last respects to Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica. An influx that has now exceeded 100,000 people and that, before the closing of the coffin, is seeing long queues in the place of worship even today, which did not stop even during the night so much so as to force the Vatican authorities to keep the basilica open all night long (it had already happened yesterday), anticipating the reopening, initially scheduled for 7am, at 5.45am. The wave will continue until 7 p.m., when the last crowd is expected before the coffin closing rite scheduled for 8 p.m. On Saturday 26th at 10 a.m., there will be the funeral and subsequent burial in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The funeral procession carrying Bergoglio's coffin will be "at a walking pace" and will be broadcast live on television until the moment of its arrival at Santa Maria Maggiore. The burial, on the other hand, will be done privately.

The alertness on the security front will be maximum. Not only the streets but also the skies, the waters of the Tiber up to the sea and underground will be armoured. A security plan defined as 'imposing' by the Quaestor of Rome himself, Roberto Massucci, who spoke of an 'appointment with history', considering the concomitance of the pontiff's death in the Jubilee year, his burial in another basilica and the arrival of heads of state and government from all over the world.

Poliziotti a cavallo in Piazza San Pietro (foto Space 24)

And this is precisely one of the most delicate aspects for the security machine. The motorcades of the leaders that will land at the various airports around the capital will be closely monitored, also from above. 130 delegations are expected. As early as Friday 25 October, the day on which the Liberation Day is celebrated and on which demonstrations will take place in Rome and throughout Italy, with the arrival of US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, the arrangements put in place for the funeral will come into full swing. Under special surveillance will be the Parioli district where Villa Taverna, the US ambassador's residence where the tycoon will be staying, is located. From midnight the 'green zone' will be triggered with stringent measures including a ban on demonstrations and the transport of dangerous goods.

Most of the authorities will arrive and depart on Saturday, making security management even more 'delicate'. "So many foreign dignitaries will converge on the airports at the same time," explained department head Fabio Ciciliano, who is coordinating the reception, mobility and assistance of the faithful. "One of the most important complexities is to make the stay and the orderly outflow comfortable. Thousands of police forces are in the field for the funeral, with reinforcements arriving from other regions, plus three thousand volunteers.

Soldati dell’Aeronautica Militare e dell’Artiglieria contraerea dell’Esercito con fucili jammer anti-drone CPM Watson simulano una situazione di allerta (simulazione ingaggio per fotografo) mentre sorvegliano le zone limitrofe al Vaticano nell’ambito del piano di sicurezza per i funerali di Papa Francesco (foto Ansa)

The Defence will also contribute to the security plan with the use of anti-drone systems, Eurofighter fighters ready to go into action from Grosseto and from the military airport at Pratica di Mare, and a destroyer, the 'Caio Duilio', off the coast of Fiumicino. The area of St. Peter's Square will be super-armoured, with preventive reclamation even underground and drones in the hands of the Questura to guarantee a bird's eye view through 3D images. The urban quadrant around the basilica will be divided into five security zones.