A million mourners overwhelm the vatican

Overwhelmed Italian officials said they will cut off the queue of pilgrims hoping to see Pope John Paul’s body at St Peter’s Basilica tonight as a massive line snaked down a wide boulevard, through ancient alleyways and onto a bridge.

People face a 24 hour wait as things stand, said Luca Spoletini, a spokesman for the Civil Defence department.

Officials will block off the queue starting at around 9pm Irish time, and maybe even earlier, he said.

“It’s possible there are one million people out there,” he said. “They are all concentrated outside St Peter’s ... We are all working to ensure maximum tranquility,” Spoletini said.

Already, Civil Defence was flashing messages on road signs and sending out mobile phone text messages to warn people of the closure, which will allow officials to clear the basilica on time and prepare it for Friday’s funeral, he said.

Meanwhile the he College of Cardinals set April 18 as the date for the start of the conclave to elect John Paul’s successor.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the cardinals would celebrate a morning Mass on April 18, and then be sequestered in the Sistine Chapel in the early afternoon to start the conclave.

According to church law, prelates are expected to hold one vote on the first day of a conclave.

Cardinals also read John Paul’s spiritual testament, a 15 page document written in his native Polish over the course of his pontificate starting in 1979, a year after he was elected, the spokesman said.

In it, the late pope did not name the mystery cardinal he created in 2003, Navarro-Valls said, ending speculation that a last-minute cardinal might join in the conclave.

John Paul created the in pectore or in the heart cardinal in his last consistory. The formula is used when the pope wants to name a cardinal from a country where the church is oppressed. There had been speculation that the cardinal might be a prelate from China, where the authorities only recognise a state-sanctioned church.

Copies of John Paul’s testament – in Polish and an Italian translation – are expected to be released on on Thursday, Navarro-Valls said.

Chicago Cardinal Francis George said the document was a “very, very moving, spiritual testament of a man who lived with the Lord.”

When the cardinals decide on a candidate, the traditional white smoke that for centuries has announced the selection of a new pope to the world will be joined by the tolling of bells. The move is designed to avoid confusion over the colour of smoke coming from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel: black smoke means no two-thirds majority has been reached during a round of balloting, white smoke means a majority has determined the next pope.

The crush of pilgrims on the road leading to the Vatican will rise sharply when an expected two million Poles arrive in Rome for the funeral.

“It’s a miracle,” said German Cardinal Walter Kasper, surveying the crowd today.

Italian Cardinal Pio Laghi said the scene was like a cloud, “but it is a cloud that is luminous and full of life.”

Italy was calling in extra police to the capital and planned to seal off much of the Eternal City on Friday to protect a VIP contingent that will include the Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George Bush, President Jacques Chirac, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the presidents of Syria and Iran, among other heads of state.

Anti aircraft missile batteries have been moved to Rome which will become a no-fly area. Traffic will also be banned from the streets of the Italian capital.

The Italian navy is patrolling the coast near Rome, the air force will be ready to scramble fighter jets during the funeral, and snipers will take up positions on rooftops, officials said.

John Paul made his wish known “to be buried in the ground,” said Archbishop Piero Marini, a long-time close aide as papal master of ceremonies.

Marini said John Paul would be buried with a white silk veil on his face, his body clad in liturgical vestments and the white mitre. Keeping with tradition, his remains will be placed inside three coffins – wood, zinc and wood – a design meant to slow down the decomposition process.

A small bag of commemorative medals issued over the course of his 26-year pontificate, as well as a sealed document featuring a brief description in Latin of John Paul’s life, will be buried with him, Marini said.

He said Polish wishes that soil from the pope’s native country would be placed in the coffin will go unfulfilled.

John Paul’s personal doctor said the pope ”passed away slowly, with pain and suffering which he endured with great human dignity.”

“The Holy Father could not utter a single word before passing away,” Dr Renato Buzzonetti said. ”Just as happened in the last days he could not speak, he was forced to silence.