The whole thing took less than 10 seconds, but that was still long enough for an official to pounce.
While one shuffled up beside Pope Francis's open casket, the other produced a smartphone and took several snaps.
These women were quickly moved on, but in an illustration of how testing things have become for stewards inside St Peter's Basilica, the next man in line pulled out his mobile and did the same thing.
The pope has been lying in state since Wednesday morning, local time, with tens of thousands of people descending on the Catholic Church's headquarters to view his body.
But could some be there for the wrong reasons?
A Vatican official told the ABC that taking pictures of, or with, the deceased pontiff was "frowned upon".
And yet as huge crowds stream through the basilica, many choose to do it anyway.
Finding opinions on the phenomenon isn't hard to find among the throngs of people outside.
Maureen Cesari and her husband Ian, from Toowoomba, were in Italy on holidays when the pope died, but aren't planning on queuing for hours to get in to St Peter's Basilica.
Ms Cesari told the ABC she thought taking a selfie in front of the pope's body lying in state was "a little bit disrespectful and creepy".
"I don't think that's the right thing to do, to get a photo with the pope," she said.
"If I had some time, would I probably line up because I am Catholic and it's a moment in time.
"But I think that you've got to put that in your memory, not take a photo."
Public interest in seeing Pope Francis lying in state has been so significant, the Vatican pushed back a planned midnight cut-off on Wednesday's first day of viewings for several hours.
Eventually, at 5:30am on Thursday they cut off access to the basilica to allow for cleaning.
Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University in Perth, said taking pictures with the late pope could actually be "a deeply spiritual moment for many mourners".
"There might be some people who are taking selfies to share with their online networks to gain views, but I suspect most people visiting are doing so for personal and spiritual reasons," he said.
"It's also a myth that all selfies are shared with others; a significant number are kept as a form of important digital connection for the person taking a selfie, and I suspect for many Catholics in mourning, a selfie of this kind might be more of a personal digital relic more than [just] something to share with a wider network via social media."
Professor Leaver also pointed out Pope Francis, and Catholicism more broadly, had embraced the digital age.
"There are so many stories about the pope video chatting regularly with the last parish in Gaza, for example," he said.
"Selfies with the late pope are part of religion being alive and well in the era of networked digital communication.
"From the outside a selfie might seem disrespectful, but I suspect strongly for most people taking one it's a sign of respect and most likely a sign of faith."
It was not only members of the public who were documenting their experiences inside the basilica.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, posted a video of himself on the social media platform X on Wednesday, where he updated his followers on the experience.
The 75-year-old is considered among the frontrunners to become the next leader of the Catholic Church.
"I promised I'd stay in touch," he said, with Pope Francis's coffin visible behind him.
"We just arrived this morning and of course what we wanted to do as soon as we could was come and pay our respects."
