Faithful flock to Rome for papal inauguration

MORE THAN half a million people are expected to gather in St Peter’s Square tomorrow for the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI.

For the first time since the Reformation, the attendance will include the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Italian police are estimating that 100,000 from the Pope’s native Bavaria will come to Rome for the ceremony and city officials were yesterday making arrangements to bring German-speaking volunteers from the north of the country to assist them.

Amid growing concern over the state of his health, the Pope held his first cabinet meeting yesterday as Vatican and Rome authorities began final preparations for another influx of dignitaries and the faithful.

Sitting on a gilded throne amid the Baroque splendour of the Apostolic Palace, the Pope met the College of Cardinals. After the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, made introductory remarks, each man in turn approached the Pope, knelt and kissed the papal ring.

It was the Pope’s first working session with his cardinals a day after confirming the entire Vatican hierarchy in a seamless transition of Church leadership.

One appointment he has yet to make is his successor as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s guardian of orthodoxy. Among names that have surfaced as possible successors are Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Austria and Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.

The Pope will also hold a news conference at the Vatican today and will take questions directly from reporters. The state of his health is expected to feature at the conference which will be broadcast live on television from the Vatican press office.

The Pontiff, who is 78, himself predicted a “short reign” in comments to cardinals just after his election, and his older brother said he was concerned about the stresses of the job on a man his age. Georg Ratzinger, 81, said he was “shocked” when he heard he had been elected and feared the gruelling schedule would be too much for him.

While there are no indications that the Pope suffers from any serious or chronic medical problems, he has had periodic illnesses. He suffered a stroke in September 1991, which temporarily affected his vision.

Vatican officials have refused to comment on the Pope’s health, saying it was a private matter. The Vatican never officially confirmed that Pope John Paul II suffered from Parkinson’s disease until after his death.

Pope Benedict XVI will be formally installed tomorrow in a ceremony the Vatican has described as “a solemn liturgical rite of inauguration”.

On Monday, he will visit the tomb of St Paul at the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside-the-Walls.