A surge in controversy is ongoing in the last day for the faithful to visit Pope Francis’ body before the casket is closed and sealed for tomorrow’s state funeral in the Vatican.
What’s driving the outrage in the press and online is the fact that the faithful – who stood in line for hours on end to have a last look on the Pontiff – are choosing to memorialize the moment with the questionable contemporary habit of ‘taking a selfie’ with the dead body of Francis in his casket.
The Telegraph: ‘Smartphones are destroying our sense of common decency’; CNN: ‘Vatican asks visitors not to take selfies with late pope’; Daily Mail: ‘Fury at ‘disrespectful’ mourners taking selfies with the Pope’s corpse as the faithful queue for eight hours to pay respects’; Newsweek: ‘Selfies With Pope Francis’ Body Spark Fury: ‘So Many People”.
Miriam Cates wrote for The Telegraph:
“Since the death of Pope Francis, many people have flocked to Rome to pay their respects, crowding into St Peter’s Basilica to see his body on display in a simple, open casket. Shockingly, some visitors have taken selfies on their phones alongside the corpse, which has provoked international criticism.
This conduct has been decried as outrageous, a violation of cultural norms such as respect for the dead and reverence for sacred places. Yet Vatican Selfie-Gate is just another example of how smartphones have upended expectations about social behavior.”
Social media users are facing backlash for posting selfies with Pope Francis’ body in his open casket.
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 25, 2025
CNN reported:
“Vatican officials are asking visitors not to take selfies with the late Pope Francis as he lies in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica, telling them to put their phones away as they passed by the coffin.
Almost 130,000 people have paid their respects to the pontiff, many queuing for hours to glimpse him lying in an open coffin, the Vatican said in a statement.
And while many bowed their heads in reflection and prayer, others held their mobile phones aloft, trying to take photos of Francis at rest, CNN footage filmed on Wednesday inside the basilica showed.
Videos posted on TikTok captured people stopping in front of the coffin to pose for selfies too. ‘So disrespectful’, read one comment, which has received more than 7,000 likes.
By Thursday, officials were telling visitors to put their phones away and not take photos as they passed the coffin, after they faced criticism for not effectively policing phone use the previous day.”
Newsweek reported:
“The line of mourners stretches for eight hours, with pilgrims traveling from around the world to grieve. However, phones are a dominant presence in the crowd, with many people holding them aloft to capture images of the pope.
Catherine Gilsenan, visiting from London, told The Sun: “I was very moved coming so close to Pope Francis, but it was awful seeing so many people taking pictures.”
Reporting live from the Vatican, Adam Parsons of Sky News noted: “Phones are a constant sight.”
[…] Vatican security has occasionally intervened to ask people to show more respect, according to The Mirror.”
Daily Mail reported:
“A Vatican source said: ‘It would be good if people could try and remember where they are and have a little respect but there’s little else that can be done.’
One faithful said the atmosphere was ruined by people ‘ignoring warnings’ and taking photos instead of paying proper respects, […] adding that it was ‘sad to see such disrespectful behavior’.
Official images of first day from the lying-in-state showed swarms of people surrounding the simple coffin holding their phones in the air above their heads.
A sea of screens was seen floating around the Pope’s body, and some even extended selfie sticks in a bid to capture the best shot.”
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