Vatican Set for Pope John Paul II’s Funeral

Late on Thursday night the doors to the Basilica in Rome were closed off, ending four days of visits from the public to the body of Pope John Paul II. Up to 2 million have viewed the body since it was laid out for the public to pay their respects on Monday.

As the funeral approaches Friday morning, scenes of thousands of pilgrims staking out their positions with sleeping bags and blankets have been seen in Rome. People have been squashing into St Peter’s Square this whole week and have been diligently waiting to pay tribute to one of the most popular Pope’s in history.

Despite most of the crowd facing the prospect of not being able to get anywhere near to see the funeral, endlessly the pilgrims keep coming – called together to mourn and celebrate the death and life of this great religious leader.

Friday morning before the funeral, Rome has been groaning under the strain of the huge amount of visitors to the city. Rome officials have reported that they expect that the huge number of visitors today will be enough to double Rome’s regular population of 3 million.

Dignitaries have poured into the city from all over the world, and Rome’s security agencies have been raised significantly, with even NATO surveillance aircraft patrolling the area to ensure defences are put in place against terrorism and the crowd control can be orderly for gatherers to remember the Pope solemnly.

Rome officials have locked down the city, and last night all vehicle traffic was banned from the city centre and air space closed off.

Today the Prince of Wales, who postponed his own wedding, will attend the funeral, along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In addition US President George Bush, and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush senior, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, representatives from over 80 countries as well as a whole host of religious leaders and other political ministers will come to the Vatican – in what is turning out to be one of the greatest testimonies to any person in history.

Yesterday it was revealed that in his last will, Pope John Paul left no material property and asked for his private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz to burn all his personal notes. The will contained entries from throughout John Paul’s pontificate and in the final entry it stated, "Now, in the year during which my age reaches 80 years, it is necessary to ask if it is not the time to repeat the words of the biblical Simeon, ‘Nunc dimittis.’ The reference is to the passage, 'Now Master you may let your servant go.'"

He testified that he life was in the hands of God and that his life was saved "in a miraculous way" in the 1981 assassination attempt. He wrote, "From this moment it belongs to Him all the more. I hope He will help me to recognise up to what point I must continue this service."

Before the funeral public Mass begins at 10am (8am GMT), the pope's body will be placed in a cypress coffin during a private ceremony.

In a new ritual to the procedure this year, a white silk veil will be placed over John Paul’s face and a special prayer given. According to tradition, various medals with the dates of the pontificate will be placed in the coffin, along with a parchment, sealed in a lead tube, which will summarise the Pope’s life.

Friday’s Requiem Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – one of the late Pope’s closest advisors. St Peter’s Square will be filled to capacity with from 100,000 to 115,000 people expected to cram in.

The Mass is expected to last two-hours and will be multi-lingual with an amazing 320 priests distributing communion to the thousands of pilgrims in the square.

Once the ceremony is completed, the Pope’s body will be carried to the crypt in St Peter’s for a private ceremony, and just before the burial the cypress coffin will be placed into a separate zinc coffin, which will the be placed into a wooden casket.