VATICAN CITY -Pope John Paul II's body was carried solemnly on a crimson platform to St. Peter's Basilica, past a sea of more than 100,000 pilgrims who waited for hours yesterday under a blistering sun for a glimpse of the late pontiff before his funeral and entombment.
Twelve white-gloved pallbearers flanked by Swiss Guards in red-plumed helmets gingerly marched the body from the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, where it had lain in state for prelates and dignitaries, to the basilica for display to the public. Priests chanted the Litany of the Saints.
Incense wafted through the church where John Paul's body will be laid to rest Friday in an ancient grotto holding the remains of popes through the ages, after a funeral to be attended under heavy security by President Bush and dozens of other world leaders. Up to 2 million pilgrims are expected in Rome to pay their final respects.
As cardinals in their red robes and caps filed past the body, bowing and crossing themselves, a long line of faithful tourists and Romans who had packed St. Peter's Square slowly snaked into the basilica.
Pilgrims gasped, dabbed away tears and snapped photographs as they circled John Paul's body, clad in a scarlet velvet robe, his head crowned with a white bishop's miter and a staff topped with a crucifix tucked under his left arm.
His face was suffering
said Sister Emma, a 76-year-old Italian nun who saw the pope's body. I felt a sense of sadness even though I know he's in Heaven.
Chicago Cardinal Francis George said the cardinals prayed for about one hour before the procession started to St. Peter's. He said it was quite moving to see John Paul laid out as if he were going to celebrate Mass. George said the pope looked at peace but a man who had suffered.
You see the face of death very clearly
he said. This is a man for whom I'm extremely grateful.
On John Paul's feet were a pair of the simple brown leather shoes he favored during his 26-year pontificate and wore on many of his trips to more than 120 countries -a poignant reminder of the legacy left by history's most-traveled pope.
I would like to tell him how much I love him
said Lorenzo Cardone, 9, waiting in line with his parents.
Since the pope's death Saturday, St. Peter's Square has been transformed into an outdoor shrine of thousands of candles, farewell letters and notes scribbled on train tickets and tissues fused in puddles of melting candle wax. The scene was reminiscent of the impromptu tributes that swelled in Paris and London after the 1997 car crash that killed Princess Diana.
Yesterday there was almost nothing here
and now look at it
said Catherine Pech, who drove 12 hours from Switzerland with her husband and daughter to mourn the pope.
Hours before the body was moved to the basilica, the College of Cardinals -meeting in tradition-bound secrecy -set Friday as the date for the funeral in the first of a series of gatherings preceding their secret vote this month to elect a new pope.
17
Archives
The Associated Press
