Thousands pressed into a Warsaw square today for a Mass by Pope Benedict XVI at the spot where his predecessor, John Paul II, inspired Poland’s Solidarity movement against communist rule in 1979.

LIFE came to a standstill in John Paul II’s native Poland as the country paused to pay its last respects to the late Pope as his funeral was celebrated in Rome.

WITH a huge portrait of Pope John Paul II as a backdrop, about 200,000 people turned out for a farewell Mass for the Polish-born pontiff, gathering yesterday at the square where he once rallied the nation to fight communist rule.