VATICAN CITY : Pope John Paul II's body was put on display
before the world as more than 100,000 people packed St Peter's
cobblestoned square for a huge open-air mass in memory of their
"father and shepherd".
Television images showed the body lying in state for the first time
since the pontiff died Saturday, aged 84.
The pope, his face serene, was dressed in red and white vestments
and a white mitre. He was laid out on a raised velvet-draped dais
flanked by two Swiss Guards in the Clementine Room on the third
floor of the Apostolic Palace.
A crucifix, crooked in an elbow, flanked his body to the left. His
head, propped on velvet pillows, leaned slightly to the right. On
his feet were brown leather shoes.
Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, the Cardinal Camerlengo or
temporary leader of the Catholic Church until the election of a new
pope, stepped forward to sprinkle holy water over John Paul II's
body and recited a funerary prayer.
Dozens of officials and cardinals of the Roman Curia, or Vatican
government, lined up to file past the pope's body in the hushed
room, as well as Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi and cabinet ministers.
"It is true. Our soul is shaken by a painful event. Our father and
shepherd, John Paul II has left us," Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the
dead pope's secretary of state, said at the solemn mass which he
concelebrated with dozens of cardinals.
"For 26 years he carried the Gospel of Christian hope to all the
squares around the world, teaching everyone that our death is only
a passage to the heavenly fatherland," said Sodano in his
homily.
Sodano, present at the pope's bedside as he passed away late
Saturday, said the 84-year-old pontiff, who battled crippling
illness for months, had died a serene death.
"I was a witness to this serenity as I stood praying by the
agonizing pope's bedside," the 77-year-old cardinal said, straying
from his prepared text.
Deeply saddened pilgrims also heard their beloved pope's last
message to them, which was read out by an aide.
"Love converts hearts and gives peace," said the message, read out
by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri.
Sandri, who had become the pope's spokesman at public liturgies as
the frail pontiff's voice failed, said he was reading the message
with "nostalgia".
The huge crowd burst into tumultuous applause as the pope's
portrait was shown on giant screens erected around the square while
the message was read out.
On hearing it, many people broke into tears.
"To humanity, which sometimes seems to be lost and dominated by the
power of evil, selfishness and fear, the risen Lord gives the gift
of his love which forgives, reconciles and reopens the soul to
hope," it added.
The mass was celebrated in the square overlooked by the pope's
apartment, where he passed away surrounded by aides at 21:37 pm
(1937 GMT) the night before, and from where he made the last of his
twice-weekly blessings to pilgrims last Wednesday.
The Polish-born pope's name was greeted with tumultuous applause by
the huge crowd at the beginning of the mass, attended by the entire
Italian cabinet.
Choral music swept around the walls of the Renaissance basilica and
the Apostolic Palace where the 84-year-old pontiff passed away
surrounded by his closest aides.
The huge crowd of pilgrims filled the square and the broad avenue
leading up to the Vatican, Via della Conciliazione.
A black woman wearing a bright orange traditional African dress
stood by a white man wearing a mourning suit, both of them holding
their hands clasped in front of them, their heads bowed in
prayer.
During the mass the only sounds in the square were children
fidgeting and the occasional cell phone which Italians are always
reticent to turn off.
"For us Africans it is a day of great mourning," said the
Archbishop of Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Laurent Monsengwo, who was among the mourners.
"For Africa it is as if the father of the Church had died," said
the archbishop, although he said he was not worried about the
future of the Church.
"The Church will continue, the Church cannot die," he said.
Earlier, after a special cabinet meeting to discuss John Paul II's
death, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi led his ministers to the
mass.
The cabinet met earlier Sunday to finalise arrangements as Rome
prepared to greet an expected two million pilgrims and world
leaders for John Paul II's funeral later this week.
Across Rome, flags were at half mast on public buildings as Italy
began the first of three days of mourning for the dead pope.
Amid the grieving, there was speculation as to who will succeed
John Paul II.
A highly ritualised election process will begin April 17 at the
earliest in the form of a conclave of cardinals, who will lock
themselves in the Sistine Chapel until a new pontiff is
chosen.
Its archaic traditions, many dating back centuries, contrast with
the modern style in which John Paul II's death was announced by the
Holy See -- in a brief statement sent to journalists by e-mail
after a mobile telephone text alert.
Cardinals are to hold a congregation Monday to plan the pontiff's
funeral. He is to be buried between Wednesday and Friday. Italy's
ANSA news agency, citing reliable sources, said it would take place
Thursday at the earliest.
John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in four-and-a-half
centuries, and the first from eastern Europe.
Born Karol Wojtyla in humble conditions in Poland, he became head
of the Church in October 1978 at age 58 and set about imprinting
his agenda and warm, communicative style on it.
Eschewing the pomp of predecessors, he won over crowds and
statesmen alike with his commitment to peace and fighting
poverty.
His support of the Solidarity trade union when it was banned in
communist Poland was credited with helping start a chain reaction
that led to the fall of the pro-Soviet regimes which had held half
the continent in their thrall for 40 years.
But he also dismayed many followers with his deeply conservative
views on sex and contraception in the age of AIDS.
- AFP
