2008 Woodie Awards
Millions attend funeral for Pope John Paul II
Tom Hundley ; Chicago Tribune
Issue date: 4/13/05 Section: News
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VATICAN CITY--As hundreds of thousands of people waited in lines up to 24 hours Wednesday to file past the funeral catafalque of Pope John Paul II, the College of Cardinals established April 18 as the date to begin the conclave that will elect his successor.
The conclave will open with a mass in St. Peter's Basilica, after which the cardinal-electors will proceed to the Sistine Chapel, where they will start their secret deliberations.
More than 90 of the church's 183 cardinals have assembled in Rome and on Wednesday they were read the contents of the pope's will. No details were disclosed, but Chicago Cardinal Francis George told reporters "it's a spiritual testament and especially at the end, it's very moving."
The 15-page document, written over the course of John Paul's 26-year pontificate, will be made public Thursday, according to Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the Vatican spokesman.
Meanwhile, all roads truly led to Rome as hundreds of thousands of people continued to converge on St. Peter's.
More than a million mourners have already filed by the crimson-robed body of the pope that rests beneath the basilica's great dome. By Wednesday afternoon, the lines of people waiting to enter the basilica had grown so long that Vatican officials said no more could be accommodated before Friday morning's funeral.
Carrying umbrellas for protection against the sun and picnic baskets for sustenance during the long wait, pilgrims stood 10 abreast in lines that snaked nearly a mile, from the steps of St. Peter's to the banks of the Tiber.
Police cut off the line late Wednesday. They estimated that those at the end of the line would have to wait 24 hours. That didn't bother Mary Nagle of West Cork, Ireland, who flew from Dublin to Rome early Wednesday, fully aware that visiting the body of John Paul II would involve a marathon wait.
She came prepared with water, food and extra clothes--everything but a map that would show her where to line up.
She recalled the pope's 1979 visit to Ireland, ticking off the cities he had visited then: Dublin, Knock, Limerick, Maynooth.