ROME, Italy - Many devotees and pilgrims have camped out at the border of Rome, Italy and Vatican City, hours ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday.

One lady from a group of Italian pilgrims showed GMA Integrated News her camping bag with cookies, toothpaste, blankets, water, medicine, and other provisions to last them for the night until the entrance to the St Peter's Square opens at 5:30 AM Vatican time.

Meanwhile, a Frenchman made a detour from his trip to Rome from Lyon upon learning that Pope Francis passed away.

"My family is religious so I think it is important to be here," he shared.

There are other small groups awaiting at the border, such as an Italian couple who brought their baby and four Peruvian women barely prepared for the queue, as they only had their jackets and shawls.

Italian civilian and military medics, who are stationed at the boundary, told GMA Integrated News their contingent is "definitely ready" for this graveyard shift and assist the pilgrims.

"I'm a volunteer, no sleep and no food for the whole day," one of them said

Upon learning that the writers are Filipinos, other pilgrims from Brazil and Italy shared their belief that the next Pope could come from a non-European country.

Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest.

His coffin was sealed in a private ceremony at the Vatican on Friday night (early Saturday morning in the Philippines) in preparation for the funeral

A funeral Mass will be held on Saturday morning at St Peter's Square, then the funeral cortege will proceed to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major), the place where Pope Francis wanted to be buried. The basilica, located in the center of Rome, is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and holds the tombs of seven popes.