Grief is often characterised in three stages.
Firstly, shock and denial; followed by processing the loss; and finally, trying to move forward.
If there is truth to that characterisation, Rome and the Catholic community reached the second stage yesterday.
As the remains of Pope Francis were carried through the Vatican in an open coffin to St Peter's Basilica, his death became a reality.
Thousands who had filed into Peter’s Square applauded the pontiff as his remains entered the Basilica.
20,000 people had already gathered to pay their respects by the time the doors opened at 11am.
By late afternoon, the Vatican confirmed a wait time of over three hours to file past the coffin.
Some of those who joined the queues happened to be in Rome on holiday and used the opportunity to mark the historic moment, but many Catholics had travelled intentionally to pay their respects.
More will arrive in the coming days.
Some people who entered the basilica took photos as they filed past the Pope's coffin, evidence of a world that now marks significant events through phones and something that would have been alien to those who filed past John Paul II's remains in 2005.
The media presence from around the world is difficult to quantify.
There are countless journalists and camera crews on the ground in St Peter's Square, while many more are scattered across the rooftops of Rome to report on the death of a global leader.
By 10.15pm last night, hundreds of people eager to pay their respects lined most of the 500-metre-long street leading to St Peter's Square, Via della Concilizione.
Some were oblivious to the second queue that lay ahead in the square itself.
While Catholics are undoubtedly upset about the death of the Pope, they appear to be processing it by gathering at the Vatican.
There is no major outpouring of grief evident thus far.
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Perhaps that is down to the man for whom they are grieving, who viewed death as something that should not be feared.
In a preface written on 7 February for a book on old age, Pope Francis said death was not the end of everything, but the beginning of something.
It is a message that will enable many of the over one billion faithful to move to the "third stage" of grief in the coming weeks and months, as the Catholic Church moves forward with a new leader at the helm.
