Pope John Paul II - Karol Wojtyla 1920 - 2005

POPE John Paul II, laid out in the splendid red reserved for papal mourning, showed the signs of suffering on his pale, serene face.

Clutching a rosary beads in his pale fingers and with a crucifix and his shepherd’s staff on his shoulder his body was put on display for a grieving world.

Outside in the chill sunshine the words of his last sermon rang out across St Peter’s Square yesterday, delivered by one of his senior clergy. It summed up the mission of the third-longest serving Pope in history, warning of the evil of the world he has left behind but with a message of hope for the future.