Powerful and humble gather to bid Pope farewell

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.

Applause rang out in the wind-whipped square as John Paul's plain cypress coffin, adorned with a cross and an "M" for the Virgin Mary, was brought out from St Peter's Basilica and placed on a carpet in front of the altar. The wind lifted the pages of the Gospel placed on the coffin.

After the Mass ended, bells tolled and 12 pallbearers presented the coffin to the crowd for the last time, and then carried it back inside the basilica for burial again to sustained applause from the hundreds of thousands in the square, including dignitaries from 138 countries.

Chants of "Santo! Santo!" urging John Paul to be elevated to sainthood echoed in the square.

The first non-Italian pope in 455 years was buried at 2.20pm in the grotto under the basilica, attended by prelates and members of the papal household, the Vatican said.

The two-and-a-half-hour Mass began with the Vatican's Sistine Choir singing the Gregorian chant, Grant Him Eternal Rest, O Lord. Cardinals wearing white mitres walked onto the square, their red vestments blowing in the breeze.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, a close confidant of John Paul and a possible successor, presided at the Mass.

His homily traced the pontiff's life from his days as a factory worker in Nazi-occupied Poland to his final days as head of the world's 1 billion Catholics.

Interrupted by applause at least 10 times, the usually unflappable German-born Cardinal Ratzinger choked up as he recalled one of John Paul's last public appearances when he blessed the faithful from his studio window on Easter.

"We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of the father's house, that he sees us and blesses us," he said.

"Today we bury his remains in the earth as a seed of immortality our hearts are full of sadness, yet at the same time of joyful hope and profound gratitude," Cardinal Ratzinger said in Italian.

He said John Paul had offered his life for God and his flock "especially amid the sufferings of his final months."

The Mass ended with everyone standing and singing together: "May the angels accompany you into heaven, may the martyrs welcome you when you arrive, and lead you to Holy Jerusalem."

At least 300,000 people filled St Peter's Square and spilled out onto the wide Via della Conciliazione, but millions of others watched on giant video screens.

The square and the boulevard leading to it were a sea of red and white flags waved by pilgrims from John Paul's native Poland.

An extraordinary mix of religious and government leaders from around the world joined the Catholic prelates on the steps of St Peters.

Jewish and Muslim leaders were among the dignitaries, including the presidents of Syria and Iran, and the king of Jordan.

The Pope's longtime private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, and the master of the liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Piero Marini, placed a white silk veil over the Pope's face before the coffin was closed.