GB News host Andrew Pierce has expressed his fury at "disrespectful" mourners visiting St Peter's Basilica after being caught taking selfies with the late Pope Francis.
Following his death, the Pope is lying in state for three days at the St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, where mourners have been lining the streets to queue to pay their respects.
However, Church guards were forced to intervene to stop visitors using their phones and taking selfies during the solemn occasion.
The late pontiff died aged 88 on Easter Monday, following a stroke and heart failure. World leaders will gather at the Vatican for his funeral on Saturday.
Andrew Pierce has hit out at mourners for taking selfies with Pope Francis as he lies in state
GB News / Reuters
Discussing the mourners who chose to take selfies with the Pope's body, Britain's Newsroom host Andrew Pierce said he is "completely shocked" by the actions of some of the visitors.
Andrew fumed: "Mourners have been filing into the Basilica to pay their respects to the Pope, and have been taking selfies. Is nothing sacred?"
Agreeing with Andrew, Bev responded: "No, it seems not."
Reporting live from the queue of mourners, GB News reporter Ellie Costello said the actions of some individuals is a "sad reflection" of the "selfie obsessed, social media obsessed culture" where "everything is documented".
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The late Pope Francis's body lies in state at St Peter's Basilica in The Vatican
GettySharing more details from the Vatican City, Bev and Andrew were left shocked as Ellie explained: "We have seen people taking selfies with the corpse of the late Pope and also streaming live on TikTok the entire experience - there's also been selfie sticks near the the open casket of Pope Francis as well.
"There is no rule that has banned photography, so we've even seen priests and nuns taking photos of the open coffin of Pope Francis. You'd imagine that would be for their own personal memory, but still, it is quite shocking to see."
Comparing the late pontiff's lying in state to that of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Ellie emphasised the "stark contrast" between the two periods of mourning, and the actions of those visiting to pay their respects.
Ellie told GB News: "It's in stark contrast to what we saw with the late Queen lying in state, where absolute decorum and dignity was held around her coffin, where everybody just filed past, silently bowed their heads for a few seconds, and then moved along.
Andrew and Bev were in disbelief as Ellie Costello shared more details of the selfie-taking mourners
GB News
"These scenes are completely opposite to that, almost a bit of a scramble to get as close to the coffin as they possibly can."
Speaking to mourners in Rome, Ellie revealed that one mourner claimed her experience had been "completely ruined" by people using their phones inside the church.
She said: "One lady told me that the moment had been ruined for her after she queued for eight hours. She's a devout Catholic, she wouldn't even think to get her phone out near a dead body.
"She said 'you can call me old fashioned, but at times like this, I'm glad to be old fashioned, because I am aghast at the way that society has turned'."
