Mourners say farewell to 'beloved John Paul'

Finally at rest after years of debilitating disease, Pope John Paul II’s body lay in state today in the frescoed Apostolic Palace as the world mourned his passing and the Vatican prepared for the ritual-filled funeral and conclave that will elect his successor.

An estimated 100,000 people turned out for a morning Mass in the Vatican City and thousands more – tourists, Romans, young and old – kept coming throughout the day, a sea of humanity filling the broad boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Basilica. They clutched rosaries and newspaper photos of John Paul as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder in St. Peter’s Square to pray for the soul of “our beloved John Paul.”