Chief spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the announcement after the College of Cardinals met for 2 1/2 hours in its first gathering before a secret vote later this month to elect a successor to John Paul.
The body of Pope John Paul II was to be brought in a solemn procession to St. Peter’s basilica for three days of public viewing at 5 p.m. yesterday, Navarro-Valls said.
The cardinals from the Vatican and across the world met to discuss funeral arrangements for the pope who died Saturday.
Navarro-Valls said the public would be let in to pay their last respects to the pope around 6 p.m. after a ceremony led by the cardinal camerlengo, who is running the Vatican until a new pope is elected.
The basilica will remain open all night until Friday’s funeral mass, he said.
Pope John Paul II did not leave a will, Navarro-Valls also announced after the first general congregation of cardinals since the pope’s death on Saturday.
A last testament, which would have been opened by the cardinals, may have contained instructions for the pope’s burial or spiritual reflections.
Cardinals met in congregation for the first time Monday since the death of Pope John Paul II, but did not announce a date for the start of a conclave to elect his successor, Navarro- Valls said.
The College of Cardinals convened yesterday ahead of a secret vote later this month to elect a new pope, with the red-capped prelates planning Pope John Paul II’s funeral and arranging the destruction of his papal ring.
The meeting at the Bologna Hall of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace was the first gathering of the world’s Roman Catholic cardinals since the pontiff’s death. They were to open any final documents John Paul may have prepared for them and to set a date for this week’s funeral.
The body of John Paul was brought out from an inner sanctum of the Vatican yesterday afternoon for the public to bid farewell. It was displayed Sunday for prelates, ambassadors and other dignitaries.
Up to 2 million mourners are expected in Rome to pay tribute to the Polish-born prelate who reigned firmly over his flock for 26 years with unbending loyalty to its ancient precepts, resisting calls from modernizers for the church to adapt.
The Vatican’s Swiss Guards, who normally wear gaily colored uniforms, were clad in black cloaks yesterday as the official mourning period for the pope continued.
As tens of thousands of the faithful file past John Paul’s bier above the traditional site of the St. Peter’s tomb, the cardinals in their first preparatory meeting were dealing with the practical arrangements of disposing of the pope’s mortal remains before they get ready to choose who will inherit his mantle.
John Paul himself set an imposing agenda for the cardinals in instructions he drafted in 1996, including the reading of any final documents he may have left for them. That could include directives on where he wanted to be interred, whether in the crypts beneath St. Peter’s Basilica as has been done with most popes, or in his native Poland.
In addition, the cardinals were expected to arrange the destruction of John Paul’s Fisherman’s Ring and the dies used to make lead seals for apostolic letters — formal gestures meant to symbolize the end of his reign and to prevent forgeries.
As they begin a series of preparatory meetings, the cardinals quietly will be sizing up each other for the task of electing the 265th successor to St. Peter, the first pope.
The conclave, held in utmost secrecy with all cardinals sequestered until a decision is reached, must begin 15 to 20 days after the pope’s death.
John Paul was 58 when the cardinals elected him in 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. He appointed all but three of the 117 cardinals entitled to attend the secret conclave electing the new pope, but there is no guarantee that his legacy of conservatism will continue into the new reign.
John Paul opposed divorce, birth control and abortion, the ordination of women and the lifting of the celibacy requirement for priests, issues that sharply divided the church.
GMA flies to Rome to attend funeral
By GENALYN D. KABILING
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday announced she will attend the funeral of the late Pope John Paul II in Rome later this week, which will draw other world leaders, the Church hierarchy and ordinary faithful.
The President said she and a small Philippine delegation will fly to the Vatican City ahead of the pontiff’s burial, which is scheduled on Friday.
Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Leonida Vera, Social Security Service (SSS) chair Thelmo Cunanan and his wife, Belinda, and Mrs. Gina de Venecia, wife of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, will accompany the President in Rome.
In a press conference during a visit in Clark, Pampanga, the President said the Philippines, the largest Roman Catholic country in Asia, held a special place in the heart of the Pope, who visited the country twice — in 1981 and 1995.
"In my visits to the Pope even before I became President, what always impressed me was that he knew what was happening in the Philippines," she said.
"He was most especially concerned with having peace, progress, and brotherhood in Mindanao," she said, referring to the southern island troubled with Muslim insurgency for the past three decades.
Mrs. Arroyo, who turns 58 today, has led the nation in mourning the death of the Pope who has been widely hailed for spreading the message of peace and bridging the gap between faiths during his 26-year papacy.
She has declared a period of national mourning starting Sunday until the day that the 84-year-old pontiff is laid to rest. Flags of all government agencies have also been flown at half-staff.
Pope instrumental in peace efforts
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
Pope John Paul II was very instrumental in the promotion of peace among the government, Muslims and communist rebels in Mindanao, Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla said yesterday.
Capalla, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the Pontiff exhorted Mindanao-based bishops to continue working for peace when they visited him in September 2003.
"He had a very special place for the Mindanao bishops and I was very happy because he singled out the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) where I am the convenor. He said he is really asking the BUC to implement the 10 propositions for peace which were decided by the leaders of the world religion in January 2003 in Assissi," Capalla said in a radio interview.
He said the Holy Father even wrote the bishops on how to better promote peace in the area with reconciliation, repentance and forgiveness.
The Pope was very effective in his mission because he did not content himself to just preaching forgiveness and reconciliation. He also applied it himself, said Capalla.
"In 1984 I saw him when he went to that jail and embraced his assailant. To me that was a big moment that hads a big impact on me. He has a very deep spirituality and always the focus is Jesus Christ. To me John Pall II is a great inspiration as a priest," he said.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales narrated his own encounter with the Pope and how it influenced his ministry.
Rosales said the Pope gave him advise for his Episcopal vocation during his "Ad Limina" visit to Rome.
Rosales said he was bishop of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, at that time and the Pontiff wanted to know about the situation in his diocese and about the rebels.
The Holy Father’s advice to him was very simple and unforgettable, Rosales said. "You must never embarrass them! Never embarrass them! Even if you do not agree, never, never embarrass them!" the archbishop quoted the Pope as telling him.
