The funeral of Pope John Paul II took place Friday morning and was watched by tens of thousands in the piazza, over 200 world leaders, and millions more across the globe. The emotional farewell to the Pope began at 10am local time (8am GMT) and lasted for 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The Pope’s wooden coffin lay in front of the altar on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica throughout the service, and was later carried inside the church to be placed inside two further coffins before being buried in the crypts.
As the coffin was lifted and taken away from public view for the final time, the bells of St Peter’s tolled and a huge round of applause echoed around the Square.
The ceremony was conducted by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – the dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, which will commence the election process of finding a new Pope on 18 April.
As the service began, the wooden coffin was brought out of St Peter’s and placed down on the stone steps of the Basilica. The coffin was engraved of the cross and was carried out by the Pope’s household staff – a book of Gospels was then opened and laid on top of the coffin. Then one after the other, each Roman Catholic Cardinal went before the altar and bowed before taking their place for the ceremony.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state gave a blessing to the body and altar with incense, and then Cardinal Ratzinger stepped forward to celebrate the Mass.
Cardinal Ratzinger spoke about the life of John Paul II, and referred to him as our "late beloved Pope". From his life as a labourer in Nazi-occupied Poland to becoming the head of the 1 billion member Roman Catholic Church, Ratzinger paid tribute to a life and legacy devoted to love, faith and peace.
Regarding the suffering of the Pope in his final months, Ratzinger testified the Pope and described him as being a priest "to the last" – who offered his life to God and to his congregation, "especially amid the suffering of his final months."
With emotion the Cardinal choked as he recalled one of John Paul’s final appearances at Easter, when he came and blessed the crowd from his Vatican apartment. Pointing up to the third-floor window above the Square he said, "We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the father's house, that he sees us and blesses us."
Attending the funeral were British Prime Minster Tony Blair, US President George Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – the leader of the world’s largest Catholic country.
In confirmation of John Paul’s efforts to unite faith groups, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei - both Muslims - also attended the funeral.
In the Pope’s native country of Poland, huge crowds gathered in Krakow – the city where John Paul was previously a Cardinal. A reported figure of approximately 1 million came together to watch the Requiem Mass on a giant video screen – on a day that the whole nation were given a day off work to mourn the death and celebrate the life of the nation’s most-loved son.
