Pope John Paul II, spiritual leader of the world’s 1,1-billion Roman Catholics, died on Saturday at 9.37pm, the Vatican announced.
The 84-year-old pontiff died two days after suffering heart failure brought on by two months of acute breathing problems and other infections.
”The Holy Father died this evening at 9.37pm in his private apartment,” said a brief statement released by the Holy See.
”All the procedures foreseen by the Apostolic Constitution ‘Universi Dominici gregis’ promulgated by John Paul II on February 22 1996 have been set in motion,” it concluded.
News of his death touched not only Catholics from his native Poland to the Americas, from Africa to Asia, but untold numbers of other admirers of one of the most popular and recognisable popes in history.
The death of the Polish-born pontiff was announced to a huge crowd of pilgrims that had gathered for a vigil under John Paul II’s apartment windows in St Peter’s Square.
The dead pope’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, intoned the De Profundis (Out of the Depths), a Latin prayer for the dead, to an eerily hushed St Peter’s Square.
Prelates outside the main door of St Peter’s Basilica invited the throng of mourners to ”accompany the pope in these, his first steps to heaven”.
Maria Angela Calabrese, a Roman pensioner, broke down into tears when told of the pope’s death.
”I haven’t slept for two days since I heard the news [of his deterioration]. I just kept watching television. He is looking at us from paradise.”
Vatican prepares for many thousands of pilgrims
Tens of thousands packed St Peter’s Square on Saturday, reciting the rosary even after hearing news of Pope John Paul II’s death.
Preparations got under way on Saturday for the elaborate rituals marking a pope’s death, with officials gearing up to accommodate the tens of thousands of pilgrims expected to converge on Rome in the wake of Pope John Paul II’s death.
Workmen in cherry-pickers began dismantling the canopy that normally stands on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica to shield the pope from the sun during outdoor Masses. One workman told The Associated Press the space had to be cleared for John Paul’s funeral.
The city of Rome, meanwhile, began making plans to house the tens of thousands of pilgrims expected to flock to the city over the coming days.
Portable toilets and ambulances appeared in greater numbers near the Vatican on Saturday and the city transport system said it was increasing service on bus and subway lines that stop at St Peter’s. Some city buses began skipping intermediate stops, even at central Piazza Venezia, to rush pilgrims straight from Rome’s main train station to St Peter’s Square.
City officials also lined up fairground pavilions and sport stadiums to house the faithful, and the Italian state railway said it would add additional trains to bring the faithful direct to Rome.
In John Paul’s native Poland, the national carrier LOT said its Rome-bound flights were nearly full for Sunday and Monday, and that every second or third call was from someone looking to book a flight to Rome.
In Vatican City, the Vatican post office announced that it would issue a special stamp when the pope died, which can only be used until a new one is elected. According to tradition, the ”vacant See” stamp will carry an image of two crossed keys but no papal headgear. The traditional image on Vatican stamps issued while a pope is alive has the keys and the headgear.
By the time a night prayer service began in St Peter’s Square before John Paul’s death, about 60 000 people had gathered to offer spiritual comfort to the pope.
”We are here praying for him while he is about to set out on his last voyage,” American Cardinal Edmund Szoka, a Vatican official, told the crowd during the service.
Earlier sentiments
Earlier, the scene was at times festive, with children chasing pigeons and families picnicking on pizzas. But at other times it turned quiet, and only the trickle of the fountains and the hum of rosary prayers could be heard.
”The hope now for the pope is that he suffers as little as possible,” said Federico della Libera, who with his wife joined a group of nuns reciting prayers in the square. ”At this point, he’s in the hands of God.”
Under a lamppost in the centre of the square, some left candles and a bouquet of tiny yellow flowers, with a note attached written in a child’s handwriting that said: ”Stay with us, John Paul, don’t leave us.”
Dawn broke over the piazza with a few hundred pilgrims who had stayed the night huddled in sleeping bags following a remarkable candlelit vigil on Friday night that drew about 70 000 people.
While most people prayed silently during the day, as night fell, the faithful broke into the familiar ”Giovanni Paolo” chants that mark John Paul’s public appearances.
One group of young people laid out a banner announcing World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in August — an appointment John Paul would have kept if he were healthy. Above it, they spelled out ”Con te [With you]” in votive candles.
”Normally I don’t like crowds, but I feel safe here,” said Wendy Zook, a tourist from Seattle, Washington, who decided to spend half of the day in the square to be with the pope. ”It’s amazing to see all these people come.”
While the day was unusual, Vatican business continued: the Vatican pharmacy and post office were open, and souvenir kiosks did brisk business selling postcards, newspapers and religious trinkets. Swiss Guards stood guard at the basilica and tour groups traipsed through the piazza with guides pointing their umbrellas up at John Paul’s third-floor window.
A group of about 100 nuns and volunteers pushing patients in wheelchairs slowly marched to St Peter’s Square. Melting wax from candles spotted the cobblestones in the square.
There were students of the American University in Rome waiting in the square and waving up at the pope’s window.
”I don’t want it to happen, but if it has to happen I want to be here,” David Silva, a 19-year-old student, from Houston, said of the pope’s death. — Sapa-AP, Sapa-AFP