Cardinals from around the globe were seen walking near Saint Peter's Square on Wednesday (April 23) as thousands flocked to St. Peter's Basilica to pay their last respects to Pope Francis, whose body is lying in state for three days before his funeral on Saturday (April 26).

The body of the 88-year-old pope, who died two days ago in his rooms at the Vatican's Santa Marta guesthouse after suffering a stroke, was brought to St. Peter's in a solemn procession earlier on Wednesday.

"Today we pray first of all for the Pope ... and then we pray for the Church and prepare ourselves for what the Church asks us to do," said Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, as he approached the Vatican gates guarded by the Swiss Guards.

Conclave, the process of choosing a new pope, is long and secretive. Most of the world's 252 cardinals are coming to Rome to take part. Those under the age of 80, about 135 prelates, are preparing to enter into a conclave to elect the next pontiff.

The complex vote will reveal if the current cardinals, most of them put there by Francis, believe his embrace of liberal social values and his progressive reform agenda have gone too far and whether a period of retrenchment is needed.

The cardinals will set the date for the start of the conclave after they start arriving in Rome in the coming days.

Once it starts, which by Church law should be no earlier than May 6, the cardinals will be completely shut off from the modern world until a new pope is named.

(Production: Claudia Chieppa, Lavinia Sdoga)