VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope John Paul II's body was displayed at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on Sunday, and Vatican television showed the Pope's remains clad in crimson vestments, his head covered with a white bishop's miter.
The powerful images gave the world its first glimpse of the late Pontiff since his last public appearance on Wednesday. John Paul II died Saturday evening at 84.
Two Swiss guards stood at attention on either side of the body, which was placed in front of a fireplace in the palace's Clementine Hall adorned with the Vatican coat of arms, a crucifix standing to one side and an ornate candle burning on the other.
John Paul's head rested on a golden pillow, his arms folded and a bishop's staff tucked under his left arm.
Prelates and Italy's president and prime minister stood in line to pay their respects. John Paul II's longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, was among those who stopped at the Pope's feet for a moment of reflection.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the late Pope's vicar for Rome, prayed on his knees by the Pope's body.
A message and prayers were read in Latin by the Vatican camerlengo, or chamberlain, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo of Spain. Italy's other television stations also carried the viewing live.
The Clementine Hall is a large, 17th century salon covered by frescoes and located near the papal apartment where John Paul II died.
The Pope often had used the hall for audiences with world leaders.
John Paul II's remains were put on display at 12:30 p.m. for officials of the Roman Curia, authorities and the diplomatic corps.
The body will be transferred from the Apostolic Palace around 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) Monday for public viewing in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Vatican said the ancient ritual of the confirmation of the death and the certification of death was carried out at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) Sunday.
In the past, the ritual had involved tapping the Pope's head three times with a silver hammer, but the last version of the official Vatican document outlining the procedures makes no mention of the silver hammer, saying only that the camerlengo "must officially ascertain the Pope's death."
Pope's last message
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- Pope John Paul II's own words rang out across St. Peter's Square the day after he died as an archbishop read out an address the Pontiff had prepared for the regular Sunday Mass at the Vatican.
Faithful gathered in the huge oval piazza wept as archbishop Leonardo Sandri read the Pope's last message to the world, focused on the hope provided to Christians by Jesus' death and resurrection.
''To all humanity, which today seems so lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, our resurrected Lord gives us his love which forgives, reconciles and reopens the soul to hope,'' John Paul's words said.
''The glorious Hallelujah of Easter rings out. Today's Gospel reading from John shows how the resurrected Christ appeared to the Apostles and 'showed them his hands and his feet', the signs of the painful passion indelibly imprinted on his body even after his resurrection.''
Pilgrims in Rome
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- The world mourned the late Pope John Paul II on Sunday and thousands of grieving pilgrims converged on Rome to pay homage to the Pole who helped topple Communism in Europe but left a divided Roman Catholic Church.
Streams of mourners began arriving in Rome in a spontaneous outpouring of affection for the Pontiff.
''Our beloved Holy Father John Paul has returned to the house of the Father,'' said Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, announcing the death to tens of thousands who had massed under the Pontiff's windows to pray for a miraculous recovery that never came.
His dying word was ''Amen,'' newspapers said.
News of his death brought tears to faithful in the square and across the globe, triggered a river of tributes and set off what was expected to be one of the greatest influxes of pilgrims in Rome's memory.
''He has called us and we have come,'' said Giuseppe Incarnati, one of the pilgrims who rushed to the tiny Vatican City from Naples.
World leaders hailed John Paul II as a force for peace across the globe while others credited him with a major role in the fall of the Iron Curtain. Some suggested he henceforth be called John Paul the Great.
But liberal Catholics criticised his proclamations against contraception, abortion, married priests and women clergy.
Global mourning
As day broke over the Polish Pope's adopted twin cities -- Rome and Vatican City -- the flow of pilgrims from afar began arriving in a fitting tribute to a Pontiff who travelled the equivalent of 30 times the circumference of the Earth.
Some 80,000 people attended a Requiem Mass for the Pope that began at 10.30 a.m. (0830 GMT) in cobblestoned St. Peter's Square.
From Brazil to the Philippines, South Africa to Germany, Roman Catholics prayed, wept and hugged each other when news flashed across the globe of the death of the Pope, whose 26-year reign was the third-longest pontificate.
In his native Poland, bells rang out across the country.
On Indonesia's Nias island, somber survivors of last week's huge earthquake gathered outdoors on Sunday for their first mass since the tremor to mourn the Pope.
Chinese Catholics, forbidden by their Communist rulers from recognizing the Holy See, sent a commemorative telegram.
Many countries decreed periods of national mourning, with his native Poland announcing six days and Communist Cuba three days. Italy also called three days of mourning.
The Vatican announced that the Pope's body would lie in state for public viewing in St Peter's Basilica from Monday afternoon at the earliest.
Some 200 world leaders, including Bush, were expected to attend the funeral, which was likely to be between Wednesday and Friday. Security officials said they were planning for Thursday.
The conclave to elect a new Pope will start in 15 to 20 days, with 117 cardinals from around the globe gathering in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to choose a successor.
When they agree on a new Pope, an official will burn the paper ballots with special chemicals to make white smoke pour out of the Sistine Chapel's chimney.
‘One last time’
Bracing for up to 2 million pilgrims, Rome raced to provide extra trains, fresh water and thousands of beds.
''We were at a party last night when we heard of the Pope's death,'' said Erminia Palmieri as she arrived in Rome's main train station from an outlying town.
''Everyone immediately stopped dancing. We went home and then decided to go to Rome. It's important to be close to him spiritually but also physically because he was great.''
Rome authorities planned to erect giant screens across the city for pilgrims to follow celebrations, and the Ancient Roman Circus Maximus -- once used for chariot races -- was designated a gathering point for masses.
The city was also planning to open two stadiums for pilgrims with sleeping bags, to set up food and water points and bring in thousands of extra police.
''We want to greet him one last time,'' said Valentina Malafoglia, a 23-year-old student, as she arrived in Rome from the city of Terni in central Italy.
Red-hatted princes
The exact cause of the Pope's death was not given but the his health had deteriorated steadily over the past decade with the onset of Parkinson's Disease and arthritis.
He had an operation in February to ease serious breathing problems, but never regained his strength and last Thursday developed an infection and high fever that soon precipitated heart failure, kidney problems and ultimately death.
Many red-hatted princes of the Catholic Church had rushed to Rome in recent days to be near the Pope in his dying hours.
Others will arrive before the first General Congregation of the Cardinals gathers on Monday to decide on the funeral details.
There is no favourite candidate to succeed John Paul, with possible choices, or ''papabili'', coming from around the world.
The former Archbishop Karol Wojtyla of Krakow was himself a rank outsider when he was elevated to the papacy on Oct. 16, 1978.
Apart from his battle against communism and quest for global peace, John Paul will also be remembered for his unswerving defence of traditional Vatican doctrines.
Some Catholics hope the next Pope will be more liberal.
But John Paul appointed all but two of the cardinals who will elect his successor, thus stacking the odds that his controversial teachings will not be tampered with.
Grief across the world
VATICAN CITY (AFP) -- Grief swept across the world Sunday as more than 100,000 people packed the Vatican's cobblestoned square and surrounding streets for a huge open-air mass in memory of Pope John Paul II, their ''father and shepherd''.
''It is true. Our soul is shaken by a painful event. Our father and shepherd, John Paul II has left us,'' said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dead Pope's secretary of state, said at the mass 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,'' said Sodano, straying from his prepared text.
''Serenity is the fruit of faith,'' he 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.
The mass was to be followed at noon by a Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prayer which replaces the Angelus prayer traditionally said by the Pope.
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.
A few thousand pilgrims had spent the entire night on the cobblestones, praying and singing, left over from a crowd more than 100,000 strong that had filled the square late Saturday on the news of the pontiff's demise.
Throughout the weekend, tributes expressed sorrow, but also gratitude for the Pope's unstinting battle for freedom.
Homage came from the strongly Roman Catholic regions of Latin America, Africa and much of Europe, as well as countries such as the United States, Britain, Israel and even communist China and Cuba.
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.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls later said the Pope died after a bedside mass celebrated by aides during which he was given the last rites.
Italian media reports said the pontiff slipped away while holding the hand of his personal secretary, Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. His last word was said to be ''amen''.
His body, once embalmed, is to be taken to St Peter's Basilica on Monday afternoon for the faithful to file past in homage.
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.
VATICAN CITY (AP)-The Vatican celebrated a Mass for Pope John Paul II and he received the sacrament for the sick and dying for the second time this week in the 97 minutes before he died on Saturday, the Holy See said in a statement.
The Vatican said a Mass for the Sunday feast of Divine Mercy was celebrated starting at 8 p.m. by his faithful private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, Ukrainian Cardinal Marian Jaworski and two Polish prelates.
The sacrament for the sick and dying, formerly known as last rites, was administered, along with Viaticum, or communion received when death appears imminent.
Present at the moment of death were his two secretaries, Dziwisz and Monsignor Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, Cardinal Jaworski, Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, the Rev. Tadeusz Styczen, three nuns who assist the Pope and their superior, Sister Tobiana Sobodka.
The Pope’s personal physician, Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, with the two doctors on call, Dr. Alessandro Barelli and Dr. Ciro D’Allol, and two nurses on call, also were present.
Death came as the Pope was staring at his window which looked out over the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, a Polish priest told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
According to the newspaper, Rev. Jarek Cielecki said the Pope raised his right hand as if to offer a blessing to those reciting the rosary in the square.
"Once the faithfuls’ prayer ended the Pope made a huge effort and pronounced the word ‘Amen’," he said. "An instant later he died."
It was unclear how Cielecki learned of the details.
John Paul also received the sacrament for the sick and dying on Thursday evening, when his condition began rapidly deteriorating.
The sacrament is performed both for patients at the point of death and for those who are very sick -- and it may be repeated.
Immediately after his death came the required officials: Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s No. 2 official, as well as the camerlengo, or chamberlain, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo; Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the Argentine cleric who is undersecretary of state and who became John Paul’s official voice for the public after his throat surgery; and Archbishop Paolo Sardi, deputy camerlengo.
After them came Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Jozef Tomko, an old friend.
The Vatican noted that the Pope’s final hours were marked by the "uninterrupted prayer of all those who were assisting him in his pious death and by the choral participation in prayer of the thousands of faithful who for many hours had been gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Vatican leadership
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) — During the Pope’s illness and death, four Roman Catholic cardinals and a trusted archbishop have been effectively running the day-to-day business of the Vatican, the headquarters of the world’s largest church.
The four cardinals are all considered possible future Popes.
The five aides are:
* Cardinal Angelo Sodano (Italian, 77): Secretary of State (prime minister) and second to the Pope in the hierarchy. A former Church diplomat, he caused a stir in February by publicly mentioning that a Pontiff could resign.
* Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (German, 77): the Vatican’s top doctrinal watchdog as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Conservatives have cheered and liberals fumed at his strict orthodoxy and iron hand against dissent.
* Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (Italian, 71): as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, he draws up the lists of new bishops for the Pope to approve. The ultimate insider, he ranks as an ace administrator but has little pastoral experience.
* Cardinal Camillo Ruini (Italian, 74): the Pope’s vicar as Bishop of Rome and head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. His two posts make him the most powerful cardinal in Italy and a key figure exerting Church influence in Italian politics.
* Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz (Polish, 65): the Pope’s private secretary, he controlled all access to the Pontiff and grew in influence as John Paul’s condition deteriorated. He is not considered a possible successor.
US mourning
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush called Pope John Paul II one of "history’s great moral leaders" on Saturday, leading nationwide mourning for a Pontiff remembered for both his spiritual and political influence.
"The Catholic Church has lost its shepherd, the world has lost a champion of human freedom, and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home," Bush said.
Bells tolled in churches and cathedrals across the country as worshippers gathered for special masses in a mood of somber and often tearful remembrance.
Flickering candles lined every wall of New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral where a packed congregation heard Cardinal Edward Egan eulogize the Pope as a man "who lived for Christ" and Catholics everywhere.
"We have lost a great and courageous man, a devoted and dedicated priest, a wise and holy Pontiff," Egan told the congregants.
Similar masses were held in the Catholic bastions of New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Nearly 65 million Catholics live in the United States, making it the country’s largest denomination. The Pope visited the United States at least four times, including once during the first year of his papacy.
Some, who had come to their churches intending to pray for the Pope’s health, wept as they learned he had died.
While the general mood was one of mourning, there was some relief that the Pontiff’s suffering was over, as well as a sense of pride at the achievements of his 26 years in office.
"The Pope had an enormous influence in my own spiritual life," Hector Robles, 48, said as left St. Patrick’s. "But the work he did went well beyond the religious, to span the gamut of social and political life."
President Bush highlighted John Paul II’s role in launching a democratic revolution that swept eastern Europe. He also remembered him as an ardent advocate of "a culture of life" one of Bush’s favored themes in the deeply religious United States.
"We will always remember the humble, wise and fearless priest who became one of history’s great moral leaders" and "a hero for the ages," Bush said from the White House, where the US flag was lowered to half-mast as soon as the Pope’s death was announced.
The President and First Lady Laura Bush later attended a special service at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in the US capital.
Pope John Paul II enjoyed broad popularity in the United States, despite some strong reservations over his more conservative social views.
To many liberal American Catholics, he was the Pontiff who refused to consider the ordination of women, stood firm against birth control, made the fight against abortion a central tenet of Church teaching, and who failed to confront the problem of pedophile priests.
"I didn’t always agree with his teachings on some social issues," said New Yorker Joanne Cairns, 28. "He was a great Pope and a great man for his time, but I would like to see his successor adopt what I would consider a more modern approach."
Former president Bill Clinton praised John Paul II as a "beacon of light" for the whole world.
"His remarkable journey from Wadowice, Poland to the Vatican played an important role in hastening the downfall of Communism. I will always treasure our five meetings in the US and the Vatican," Clinton said in a joint statement with his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton.
Jimmy Carter, another ex-president, said the Pope’s "advocacy for the poor and oppressed will prevail as a source of hope and inspiration for others to follow."
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Roman Catholic governor of California and Hollywood movie star, issued a statement with his wife, Kennedy family heiress Maria Shriver, saying a meeting they had with the Pope at the Vatican many years ago had been the "highlight of our lives."
"In a world of challenges, Pope John Paul II was a beacon of virtue, strength and goodness," they said.
Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan recalled how John Paul II and her late husband president Ronald Reagan had both been key players when communism in Europe collapsed.
The Jewish community, which had long been suspicious of the Roman Catholic Church, strongly praised efforts by the pontiff aimed at bringing together the rival faiths with a series of historic firsts.
"Pope John Paul II fundamentally changed 2,000 years of relations between the church and the Jewish people," said Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, commenting on the Pope’s death.
Sen. John Kerry, a Roman Catholic who ran for US president in 2004, said John Paul II led the Catholic Church during "some of the most challenging times the world has witnessed, and persevered through enormous suffering with inspirational dignity."
"We will never forget the example he set by forgiving the man who tried to take his life, and by praying at the Western Wall to ask Jews for their forgiveness," Kerry said.
"In death, as in life, his incredible spirit provides every Catholic with strength and his memory provides us with wisdom."
Italian farewell
ROME (AFP) — Pope John Paul II’s death filled the pages of Italy’s newspapers Sunday, farewelling the Pontiff and detailing his legacy after 26 years at the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
"Adieu Wojtyla," the main title, La Repubblica, headlined over a picture of the Pope kissing a child’s forehead. It used the Pope’s name at birth in Poland, Karol Wojtyla.
"The world is crying for the Pope. He passed away saying ‘amen’," said the daily, which devoted half of its 67 pages to John Paul II’s death late Saturday.
"Ciao Pope Karol," the Sicilian newspaper La Sicilia wrote, with a similar front-page photograph of the Pope kissing a girl.Corriere della Sera, in an edition headlined "The Pope who changed the world," reported that his last words were "Thank the young people."
It and the Roman daily Il Messaggero chose similar photographs: the Pope with a newborn baby.
"The Lord has called Jean Paul II to him," the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, said over a picture of the Pope kissing a crucifix.
And in a rare deviation from the norm, the two main sports newspapers gave over their covers to the big news story.
"The time of silence," La Gazzetta dello Sport said, adding that sportsmen and women across Italy had suspended activities to mark the passing of the Pope, himself an enthusiastic skier, kayaker, swimmer and hiker in his youth.
"Ciao big guy," Le Corriere dello Sport wrote, and informed readers that Italy was observing the beginning of three days of mourning.
Russian grief
MOSCOW (AFP) — The Russian Orthodox Church Sunday expressed grief following the death of Pope John Paul II, and hoped the Pontiff’s memory would help overcome difficulties between itself and the Holy See, in a statement posted on its website.
