Pope Benedict XVI, making sentimental stops in his predecessor’s homeland, brought joy to Poles by announcing that he hopes John Paul II will be made a saint “in the near future".

Poland’s Roman Catholic Church has invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz during his expected visit to the country in May.

A Polish opposition party today urged the government to buy the house where the late Pope John Paul II was born and which hosts a museum in his honour.

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.

ALL morning helicopters thumped the skies and police sirens wailed as motorcades crossed the city and the bell of St Peter's struggled to broadcast its message that the hour was drawing near.

THE world came to know Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II, but Danuta Puklo remembers him as Lolek, the nickname for the generous boy who helped her pass a school test.

Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power ... Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilisation and development.

Pope John Paul II’s condition remains unchanged and “very grave”, and he is showing the first signs of losing consciousness, the Vatican said today.

In a sign of the decline of Pope John Paul II's decline, several cardinals from the US and Latin America said they were heading to Rome.

POPE John Paul II was nearing death last night as his health suddenly worsened, drawing anguished prayers from Catholics around the world reluctant to accept his historic pontificate was at an end.

ADORED by some, attacked by others, Pope John Paul is the most prominent religious leader and perhaps the most widely recognised person in the world.

Roman Catholics across the world, from blue-collar workers in Poland to monks in the Norwegian Arctic and parishioners in the Philippines, prayed for the Pope today amid fading hopes that he would recover.

A Polish priest from John Paul II’s birthplace said today he had been told by The Pope’s closest aide that the pontiff might leave hospital on Monday or Tuesday.

In big cities and quiet villages, Catholics around the world stopped to pray for Pope John Paul today as word spread that he had again been rushed to hospital.

Pope John Paul’s condition stabilised today after he was rushed to hospital with breathing trouble, but the flu-stricken pontiff will spend several more days at the clinic, the Vatican said.

Pope John Paul concluded his trip down memory lane today with a Mass at a mountain monastery where he used to pray as a boy.

The Pope slept in his old bed, visited his old street and drove by the disused salt quarry where he worked during the Nazi occupation, recalling the wooden shoes that a future Pope wore to work.