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Sea of humanity pays homage to Pope
The 84-yr-old Pontiff died at 9.37 pm on Saturday. Express Your Condolence
Grief and praise rippled around the world on Sunday for Pope John Paul II, whose death overnight ended a 26-year pontificate that helped topple communism in Europe and struggled for peace everywhere.
The 84-year-old spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church's 1.1 billion members passed away at 9:37 pm (1937 GMT) on Saturday, after two days of heart and kidney failure and two months of acute breathing problems and other ailments.
The pain of bereavement was palpable in St Peter's Square, under the windows of the pope's Vatican apartment, where he died.
A crowd of over 100,000 filled the space at the news of the death before shrinking to 5,000 hard-core mourners in the pre-dawn hours.
Tears glistened on cheeks while prayers were murmured by priests, nuns, ordinary Romans and foreigners to speed the pope's "reunion with God".
Inside the Vatican, cardinals made preparations for the nine days of mourning that follow a Pope's death, and for the conclave that will be called later this month to elect a successor.
A public mass was to be held on Sunday morning on the first of three days of official mourning declared by the Italian government.
The Holy See announced the Pope's death in a brief e-mail statement to journalists.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls later said the Pope died after a bedside mass celebrated by aides, during which he was given the last rites. His body was to be brought to St Peter's Basilica on Monday afternoon for the faithful to file past in homage, he said.
The cardinals were to hold a congregation that day to plan the pontiff's funeral.
Italy's ANSA news agency, citing reliable sources, said it would take place on Thursday at the earliest.
Bells tolled across Rome and the Pope's native Poland after his death, as world leaders paid tribute to his unstinting battle for freedom and recalled his notable contribution to the collapse of communism in eastern Europe.
