The Catholic Church awoke Friday with no leader following the resignation of Benedict XVI, who pledged obedience to his successor.

It’s a ritual as rich in tradition and symbolism as the Catholic Church can muster: secret oaths, hypnotic Gregorian chants, scarlet-decked cardinals filing through the Sistine Chapel — all while the public outside in St Peter’s Square watches for white smoke to learn if it has a new pope.

Eighty years and a world away from its last staging in Ireland, the International Eucharistic Congress has returned to Dublin to the delight of devout Catholics and a marked indifference by the wider public.

PRESIDENTS, prime ministers and kings joined pilgrims and prelates in St Peter’s Square yesterday to bid an emotional farewell to Pope John Paul II at a funeral service that drew millions to Rome for the largest gathering of the powerful and the humble in modern times.

RESPONDING to Pope John Paul II’s request, the Vatican will depart from centuries-old tradition by ringing bells in addition to sending up white smoke to signal the election of his Pope’s successor.

Overwhelmed Italian officials said they will cut off the queue of pilgrims hoping to see Pope John Paul’s body at St Peter’s Basilica tonight as a massive line snaked down a wide boulevard, through ancient alleyways and onto a bridge.

THE college of cardinals met for a second day of talks yesterday to prepare for the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul.

The College of Cardinals met for a second day of talks today to prepare for the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul as tens of thousands of mourners streamed past the late pontiff’s crimson-robed body as it lay in state in St Peter’s Basilica.