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The poor and the powerful rubbed shoulders to say their last goodbye to Pope John Paul II on Friday as the Vatican staged one of the most momentous funerals for the Polish Pontiff.
8216;8216;We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of the Father8217;s house, that he sees us and blesses us,8221; Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told people packed into St. Peter8217;s Square.
To the sound of choirs singing in Latin, the tolling of a giant bell and a seemingly endless wave of applause, 12 pall bearers carried away the Pope8217;s wood coffin from the steps of St. Peter8217;s Basilica to end the open-air Mass.
Before disappearing inside for the burial, the coffin was turned for one last time to face the square where Pope John Paul had addressed thousands of Masses during a Papacy that lasted over 26 years.
Four kings, five queens and at least 70 Presidents and Prime Ministers attended the service, paying homage to a man who helped bring down the Iron Curtain, urged unity between faiths and stamped a strict orthodoxy on his Church.
St Peter8217;s Square and surrounding streets turned into a sea of fluttering flags8212;mostly the red-and-white colours of the Pope8217;s native Poland8212;as pilgrims poured into the Vatican to see the ceremony.
Police sources estimated that around 300,000 people were able to get to the Vatican area on Friday, only a tiny fraction of the millions of faithful who queued for hours earlier in the week to file past the Pope8217;s body as it lay in state.
8216;8216;Our whole world will be different now,8217;8217; said 18-year-old Beata from Poland, as the Pope8217;s coffin emerged. 8216;8216;I don8217;t know what we will do without him to lead us.8217;8217;
Alarm sirens wailed and church bells tolled across Poland to mark the start of the funeral and more than 800,000 gathered in the Blonie public meadows in Krakow8212;the southern Polish city where Wojtyla served as Archbishop before becoming Pope.
Among 2,500 dignitaries of all faiths and races invited were US President George W. Bush, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Britain8217;s Prince Charles and various West asian leaders. In Rome, all was quiet as authorities ordered all public offices, schools and museums to close and banned cars from the roads.
After the Mass, his coffin was carried into the Basilica to be laid to rest in a crypt after being enclosed in a zinc coffin and finally an oak casket. A brief history of his life and coins minted during his Pontificate were also placed. 8212;Reuters
