The funeral started off with an intimate ceremony, attended only by the top Vatican prelates in St. Peter’s basilica, who placed a pouch of silver and bronze medals and a scrolled account of his life in his coffin. Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul's long-time private secretary, and Archbishop Piero Marini the master of the liturgical ceremonies, placed a white silk veil over the pope's face and sprinkled his corpse with Holy water. Psalm 41 (42): "As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God." was recited as the cypress coffin was being closed.
The funeral Mass started at 10:00am local time (8:00am GMT) on the steps and lasted for about two and a half hours. The coffin was placed before the altar and was closed.
The German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, deacon of the College of Cardinals, presides on the service. He was joined by 164 cardinals and patriarchs of the Eastern Rite Churches, all clothed in red vestments. These took place on his right in the 600-seat clergy section. About 1400 Italian and foreign dignitaries took their place on his left-hand side. In front of him were the former leaders of state and government, ministers and other important guests.
The Mass started with the introductory hymn, "Eternal Rest Grant Him, O Lord," followed by the singing of Psalm 64 "To You We Owe Our Hymn of Praise, O God of Zion."(sung in Latin)
After the hymn the reading of a prayer for the Pope took place.
The first reading of Scripture was Acts of the Apostles 10:34-43 (in Spanish), where Peter holds a speech about God’s equal treatments towards all people in front of Cornelius. Followed by Psalm 22, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." (in Latin)
The second reading was Philippians 3:20-4:1, "But our citizenship is in heaven;"(in English) After this followed John 6:40, "For this is the will of my father that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have eternal life;" and John, 21:15-19, which is a dialogue between Jesus and Peter, where Peter is being told to feed the Lord’s sheep.
