People says goodbye to Pope

The three hours later the first of an expected 2 million visitors filed into the basilica to take a last look of pope, the man who was credited with hastening the downfall of communism and who visited more than 100 countries during his 26-year papacy. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a Vatican spokesman, said Monday that the funeral for the pope, who died Saturday, would begin at 10 a.m. Friday (3 a.m. Kansas City time).

He’ll be placed in a tomb once occupied by Pope John XXIII, whose body John Paul II had moved to a more honored spot in St. Peter’s during his reign. The pope’s body had been lying in state since Sunday in a hall below his official residence, visited only by church officials, workers and members of families with longtime ties to the Vatican. Chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the funeral for the Pope, who died Saturday after heading the billion-strong church since 1978, would begin at 10 a.m. Friday (4 a.m. Philadelphia time). Afterward, John Paul’s body is expected be placed in a tomb once occupied by Pope John XXIII’s. John Paul had had the remains moved to a higher, and more honored, spot in St. Peter’s during his reign.

The funeral will be attended under heavy security by President Bush and dozens of other world leaders. John Paul’s body had been lying in state since Sunday in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace where he lived, visited only by church officials, workers, and members of families with longtime ties to the Vatican. At 4 p.m. yesterday, John Paul’s body, dressed in red and white vestments, was moved in a slow procession across St. Peter’s Square, into the basilica.

A singer chanted the names of saints, in Latin: Mary, John the Baptist, Peter. In response, a choir chanted, “Pray for him.” She might have been a little over-worried, but the public viewing of the pope, which began here Monday night, will be an enormous operation fraught with logistical troubles. By the time he is buried Friday, about 2 million people are expected to pass through the line — and Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, is bracing for the crowds. On Monday, trucks hauled around crates of free water. A bank of portable toilets was tucked away tastefully around the corner from stately St. Peter’s Square. Huge television screens showing highlights from John Paul’s reign were put up every 50 or so yards to help prevent restlessness in the line, which was already quite long Monday night.