Rome asks mourning millions to stay away

A sea of humanity filled the streets of the tiny Vatican state last night to pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II.

Overwhelmed Italian authorities have appealed to pilgrims to stay away from the centre of Rome.

“The city centre cannot take the arrival of any more faithful,” said Guido Bertolaso, head of crowd control for tomorrow’s funeral.

“Anyone arriving tonight or tomorrow will have no possibility of following the funeral at St Peter’s.”

Cardinal Desmond O’Connell, who spent time praying beside the body of the Pontiff in St Peter’s yesterday, said he expects the Pope will become a saint.

One of just 116 cardinals who will select the next Pontiff, he appealed to the people of Ireland to pray for him during the conclave which begins on Monday week, April 18.

More than a million people queued for 12 hours to see the Pope’s body before it is interred in the basilica tomorrow morning.

Mourners were filing past at a rate of 18,000 people an hour. The crowds were so vast that authorities refused to let anyone join the queue after 10pm.

By yesterday afternoon there were about three million people in Rome for the funeral, of which about two million were Polish.

Authorities believe the crowds will grow to five million by tomorrow, making it the biggest religious pilgrimage in history.

Bishop John Magee, who lived and worked with the late Pope for eight years of his 24-year reign, said it was “amazing”.

“It’s amazing that one man captured the imagination of the world. But I am not surprised. The world was his parish and he visited his parishioners so often and now they have come to him to pay him the honour he deserved,” he said.

The Vatican has organised a candlelit procession for young people tonight on an oft-preached theme by the late Pontiff, ‘Be not afraid’.

President Mary McAleese, her husband Martin, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Tánaiste Mary Harney and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny arrive this evening as Ireland’s official delegation.

Last night, US President George W Bush paid his respects, viewing the late Pontiff’s body. He was joined by former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Snr.