Pope to lie in state at St. Peter's
Plans to be laid for burial and successor's selection
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|  VIDEO |
 A look at the 700-year-old rituals for selecting a pope.
 Pope John Paul II was adored by many young people worldwide.
 Alessio Vinci reports on the mood in Rome after the pope's death.
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| DEATH OF JOHN PAUL II |  Time of death: 9:37 p.m. in Rome; 2:37 p.m. Eastern; 19:37 GMT, April 2, 2005
Age at time of death: 84 years
Death announcement: Archbishop Leonardo Sandri
Vatican protocol: "All the procedures that were foreseen in the apostolistic consitution (universi dominici gregis) that were put forth by John Paul II on the 22 February 1996 have been launched." -- Sandri
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SPECIAL REPORT |
1920~2005 |
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VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II's body will be moved Monday to the Sala Bologna at St. Peter's Basilica, where the pontiff will lie in state until his funeral, to be held in four to six days.
Public viewing was scheduled to begin Monday, and Italian authorities said they expect 2 million people to file through the Vatican and the surrounding streets of Rome in the coming days.
As condolences poured in from around the world, plans were being laid for the pope's burial and the selection of his successor.
The first General Congregation of Cardinals was to meet Monday morning in the Apostolic Palace to decide the burial time and other details.
The Vatican has not said if John Paul left instructions for his funeral or burial. Most popes have asked to be buried below St. Peter's Basilica. But the Polish-born pope might have wanted to be laid to rest in his homeland.
Within 20 days of John Paul II's death, Catholic cardinals from across the globe will gather to participate in a sacred ritual that, for many of them, could be a once-in-a-lifetime event: the election of a pope.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick said Sunday that John Paul "has given us a model of what a great pope would be."
Before leaving for Rome, the archbishop of Washington told reporters he "will go very humbly and wanting to learn.
"We will be open to whatever -- hopefully -- to whatever God wants," he said.
The late pope was born Karol Wojtyla in 1920 in Poland. He became pope in October 1978, the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years.
The 84-year-old pope died from septic shock and cardiocirculatory collapse, the Vatican said Sunday.
Shortly after John Paul's death, a Vatican spokesman said the papal transition process was under way, following procedures the pontiff enacted in 1996. (Full story)
On Sunday, tens of thousands of Roman Catholic faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to remember John Paul, while millions of others marked the pontiff's death at Masses around the world.
Cardinals, archbishops and diplomatic dignitaries solemnly filled the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace to pay their respects to the pope, his body dressed in red and white papal robes with his bishop's staff under one arm.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the former Vatican secretary of state and a possible papal successor, said he was at the pope's bedside as he died Saturday. He told mourners his longtime friend -- the spiritual leader of more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide -- "died with the serenity of the saints."
"We entrust with confidence to the risen Christ, Lord of life and history, our beloved John Paul II who for 27 years guided the universal church as the successor of Peter," he told a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd in St. Peter's Square in the first of nine elaborate Masses marking the pope's death.
The pope's condition began deteriorating rapidly Thursday, after a urinary tract infection caused a high fever. He suffered from a number of chronic illnesses, including crippling hip and knee ailments and Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder.
"Pope John Paul has finished the course, has run the race, has kept the faith," said Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, at Westminster Cathedral in London. "Farewell, Pope John Paul, as the thoughts, the memories and the prayers of the world and of all Christian people go with you."
Pope mourned worldwide
John Paul traveled widely and reached out to other faiths during his 26-year papacy, and condolences echoed across the globe Sunday.
"He was a poet, a philosopher, an athlete, a linguist, a mystic, a man with deep loyalties and lasting friendships, a priest who laid down his life for his flock," Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley told mourners at that city's Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The pope visited the cathedral on his first papal trip to the United States in 1979.
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel told CNN that John Paul "will have a very important place in Jewish history" as the first pope to visit a synagogue. The pontiff apologized for previous persecution of Jews by the church and for the Vatican's failure to do more to prevent the Holocaust.
"Never have the relations between Jews and Catholics been as good," Wiesel said.
The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, said in a written statement that he had "deep appreciation for the pope's mission to bring peace to the world.
"In spite of increasing age and declining physical health, his relentless efforts to visit different parts of the world and meet the people who lived there to promote harmony and spiritual values, exemplified not only his deep concern but also the courage he brought to fulfilling it."
The pope is credited with contributing to the collapse of communist rule in his homeland and across the Soviet bloc.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Sunday that the pontiff once told him, "Europe must breathe with both its lungs." (Full story)
"I mourn his loss," Gorbachev said. "His devotion to his followers is a remarkable example to all of us." (More world reaction)
Throughout his papacy, conservatives supported his stances on traditional positions on the role of women in the church and its opposition to birth control, abortion and euthanasia. Liberal Catholics praised his opposition to capital punishment, his calls for more aid to the poor and his criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Raymond Flynn, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, said John Paul spoke "for the teaching of the Catholic Church and Jesus Christ, rather than try to accommodate a political party or try to be politically popular or try to be liberal or try to be conservative.
"Even though people disagreed with him, they respected him," Flynn said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Jim Bittermann and Alessio Vinci contributed to this report.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
