Post by musicradio77 on Apr 4, 2005 17:15:29 GMT -5
From the Daily News:
Face Shows His Peace and His Pain
Body to be moved to St. Peter's today
BY KATHLEEN LUCADAMO in Vatican City
and TRACY CONNOR in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Resplendent in white and crimson robes, Pope John Paul II's body was displayed to the world yesterday, his face a mix of his final serenity - and his last days of agony.
While dramatic images of the pontiff resting on a bier in the Apostolic Palace were broadcast on Vatican television, only top church officials and dignitaries were allowed into the frescoed room.
His body will be moved to St.Peter's Basilica today for several days of public viewing by as many as 2 million pilgrims before a majestic funeral, which is expected to be attended by President Bush and scores of world leaders, later in the week.
The Pope died Saturday night in his bedroom, succumbing to septic shock and heart failure after two months of medical setbacks.
An Italian newspaper reported that at the moment of death, he was gazing at a window overlooking Rome's St. Peter's Square as a rosary was recited by the crowd.
"Once the faithfuls' prayer ended, the Pope made a huge effort and pronounced the word 'Amen,'" a Polish priest, Jarek Cielecki, told La Repubblica. "An instant later, he died."
It was unclear how Cielecki, who was not in the papal residence when John Paul died, learned those details, and his account could not be confirmed.
Since the Pope's death, tens of thousands of mourners have jammed St. Peter's Square, bringing photos, flags and memories of a pontiff who redefined the papacy.
"Even if we fear we've lost a point of reference, I feel like everybody in this square is united with him in a hug," said Luca Ghizzardi, 38, who carried a sleeping bag and a peace flag.
"It's amazing to be here," said Joanna Ganson, 24, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, who took a train from school in the Italian city of Bologna to Rome after she heard of the Pope's passing. "You know his suffering is over, so in many ways it's very peaceful."
Final words read aloud
She was one of 100,000 Catholics who attended a midmorning Requiem Mass in the square, where some of the Pope's final words, in the form of an address he wrote for a Sunday service, were read aloud to tearful gasps from the audience.
"To all humanity, which today seems so lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, our resurrected Lord gives us His love which forgives, reconciles and reopens the soul to hope," his message read.
The Mass was celebrated by the Vatican secretary of state, Angelo Cardinal Sodano, who tellingly referred to the Pope in his written homily as "John Paul the Great."
If that title is officially bestowed on John Paul, he would be only the fourth Catholic leader in history so honored, joining the sainted Leo I, GregoryI and Nicholas I.
"He died with the serenity of the saints," Sodano told the crowd, which waved photos of the Pope and the flag of his native Poland.
Clasping a rosary
After the Mass, cardinals from around the world joined Vatican dignitaries in the Sala Clementina, a room in the papal palace where the Pope had received so many heads of state during his 26-year reign as leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics.
He was laid out on a platform swathed in gold fabric, his hands clasping a rosary, his head covered by a white bishop's miter.
His body was flanked by a simple crucifix, a burning candle and two Swiss Guards in their ornate, colorful uniforms.
Those who saw him remarked on how peaceful he seemed, even though they could see traces of the agonies he withstood in recent weeks, as a long battle with Parkinson's disease gave way to breathing troubles, blood poisoning and, finally, heart and kidney failure.
"His face in death was, like his life, at once pained and serene," Reuters' longtime Vatican correspondent Philip Pullella wrote after viewing the body. "It seemed a fitting expression for the Pole who survived the horrors of World War II, the Nazi invasion of his country, the dark years of communism, an assassination attempt, and yet always managed to remain optimistic.
"Looking at it closely on Sunday, I thought that even in death it still had that mix of a grimace and a smile - his recipe for a full life."
Roger Cardinal Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, compared John Paul with the flickering candle in the Sala Clementina. "The holy father burned very brightly for many, many years. He was a brilliant light for the world," Mahony said. "His life is finished and he gave up his spirit." Mahony and the rest of the College of Cardinals will meet this morning to decide whether John Paul's funeral will be held Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
The red-capped "princes of the church," who will form a conclave to pick the next Pope sometime in the next two weeks, will also read his final instructions, including his choice of burial place.
Most Popes have been interred in crypts beneath the basilica, but there has been speculation that John Paul might be returned to the soil of his beloved Poland.
The cardinals also sign off on the destruction of John Paul's Fisherman's Ring and the dies used to make papal seals, symbolizing the end of one of the most remarkable papacies in history.
Face Shows His Peace and His Pain
Body to be moved to St. Peter's today
BY KATHLEEN LUCADAMO in Vatican City
and TRACY CONNOR in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Resplendent in white and crimson robes, Pope John Paul II's body was displayed to the world yesterday, his face a mix of his final serenity - and his last days of agony.
While dramatic images of the pontiff resting on a bier in the Apostolic Palace were broadcast on Vatican television, only top church officials and dignitaries were allowed into the frescoed room.
His body will be moved to St.Peter's Basilica today for several days of public viewing by as many as 2 million pilgrims before a majestic funeral, which is expected to be attended by President Bush and scores of world leaders, later in the week.
The Pope died Saturday night in his bedroom, succumbing to septic shock and heart failure after two months of medical setbacks.
An Italian newspaper reported that at the moment of death, he was gazing at a window overlooking Rome's St. Peter's Square as a rosary was recited by the crowd.
"Once the faithfuls' prayer ended, the Pope made a huge effort and pronounced the word 'Amen,'" a Polish priest, Jarek Cielecki, told La Repubblica. "An instant later, he died."
It was unclear how Cielecki, who was not in the papal residence when John Paul died, learned those details, and his account could not be confirmed.
Since the Pope's death, tens of thousands of mourners have jammed St. Peter's Square, bringing photos, flags and memories of a pontiff who redefined the papacy.
"Even if we fear we've lost a point of reference, I feel like everybody in this square is united with him in a hug," said Luca Ghizzardi, 38, who carried a sleeping bag and a peace flag.
"It's amazing to be here," said Joanna Ganson, 24, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, who took a train from school in the Italian city of Bologna to Rome after she heard of the Pope's passing. "You know his suffering is over, so in many ways it's very peaceful."
Final words read aloud
She was one of 100,000 Catholics who attended a midmorning Requiem Mass in the square, where some of the Pope's final words, in the form of an address he wrote for a Sunday service, were read aloud to tearful gasps from the audience.
"To all humanity, which today seems so lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, our resurrected Lord gives us His love which forgives, reconciles and reopens the soul to hope," his message read.
The Mass was celebrated by the Vatican secretary of state, Angelo Cardinal Sodano, who tellingly referred to the Pope in his written homily as "John Paul the Great."
If that title is officially bestowed on John Paul, he would be only the fourth Catholic leader in history so honored, joining the sainted Leo I, GregoryI and Nicholas I.
"He died with the serenity of the saints," Sodano told the crowd, which waved photos of the Pope and the flag of his native Poland.
Clasping a rosary
After the Mass, cardinals from around the world joined Vatican dignitaries in the Sala Clementina, a room in the papal palace where the Pope had received so many heads of state during his 26-year reign as leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics.
He was laid out on a platform swathed in gold fabric, his hands clasping a rosary, his head covered by a white bishop's miter.
His body was flanked by a simple crucifix, a burning candle and two Swiss Guards in their ornate, colorful uniforms.
Those who saw him remarked on how peaceful he seemed, even though they could see traces of the agonies he withstood in recent weeks, as a long battle with Parkinson's disease gave way to breathing troubles, blood poisoning and, finally, heart and kidney failure.
"His face in death was, like his life, at once pained and serene," Reuters' longtime Vatican correspondent Philip Pullella wrote after viewing the body. "It seemed a fitting expression for the Pole who survived the horrors of World War II, the Nazi invasion of his country, the dark years of communism, an assassination attempt, and yet always managed to remain optimistic.
"Looking at it closely on Sunday, I thought that even in death it still had that mix of a grimace and a smile - his recipe for a full life."
Roger Cardinal Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, compared John Paul with the flickering candle in the Sala Clementina. "The holy father burned very brightly for many, many years. He was a brilliant light for the world," Mahony said. "His life is finished and he gave up his spirit." Mahony and the rest of the College of Cardinals will meet this morning to decide whether John Paul's funeral will be held Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
The red-capped "princes of the church," who will form a conclave to pick the next Pope sometime in the next two weeks, will also read his final instructions, including his choice of burial place.
Most Popes have been interred in crypts beneath the basilica, but there has been speculation that John Paul might be returned to the soil of his beloved Poland.
The cardinals also sign off on the destruction of John Paul's Fisherman's Ring and the dies used to make papal seals, symbolizing the end of one of the most remarkable papacies in history.