Thousands of Sicilians on Monday continued to stream past the body of Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo, who served as archbishop of Palermo for 26 years.
Cardinal Pappalardo, 88, died on Sunday after a long illness and his funeral will be staged Tuesday at the city's cathedral.
As head of the Sicilian church from 1970 to 1996, Cardinal Pappalardo distinguished himself as an outspoken critic not only of the Mafia but also of the local and national political class for their lack of action against organised crime.
He will also be remembered for being next to visiting Pope John Paul II when the late pontiff made his emotional appeal to Mafiosi to repent and convert.
In his last interview, to be published by the 'I Love Sicily' magazine on Friday, Cardinal Pappalardo said "I am glad to see a different Palermo from the one I saw when I arrived in December 1970. Sicilians and the people of Palermo are no longer resigned to passively submit to evil".
In the interview he also urged that immigrants be treated with greater respect and warned against allowing any war of religions.
In his farewell sermon in 1996, three years after he had reached the Church's mandatory retirement age, Cardinal Pappalardo said "I realise that I could have done more and better things for you and I hope that after putting up with my shortcomings you will now be able to forgive them".
