Pope's tomb draws small crowd
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 Cardinal Bernard Law leads a funeral Mass amid protests.
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VATICAN CITY -- Pilgrims have been filing past Pope John Paul II's tomb after the Vatican opened the site for the first time since the pontiff's funeral.
Hundreds were waiting up to three hours before officials unlocked the crypt under St. Peter's Basilica early on Wednesday morning.
Most of them were tourists or Italians wanting to see the tomb before going to work -- but the relatively small numbers were in marked contrast to the huge crowds that gathered to see the pope's body lying in state.
"I'm in town for a conference and thought it was an opportunity to stop by, particularly as I can get in and see it before work starts," Angela Liotti, from the northern Italian town of Novara, told Reuters.
More than 3 million people traveled to Rome last week after the pope's death and just under 2 million are estimated to have seen his body before Friday's funeral.
The crowds brought the city to a standstill and the Vatican delayed opening the crypt until most of the pilgrims had left the city.
The pope is buried in the ground and has a white marble gravestone engraved with his Latin name "IOANNES PAULUS PPII", and the dates of his 26-year papacy.
Vatican officials have asked people not to bring flowers or banners to the tomb, which lies deep in the Vatican Grottoes near those of John Paul I and Innocent IX.
Many of the pilgrims knelt before the grave to pray, but ushers hurried some of them along.
Lucia Caserta, also in Rome for a conference, barely had time to genuflect before being moved on.
"It was a bit quick, but it has to be, to allow all the people through and not let it become like last week. At least I managed to say a quick prayer," she told Reuters.
Some of the cardinals who will next week start choosing a new pope prayed by the grave Tuesday evening in their last homage before the grottoes were reopened to the public.
Wearing their crimson robes and tall white bishop's miters, they bowed their heads before the grave.
They resumed on Wednesday their preparations for their conclave, which begins April 18. They are meeting every day to pray and acquaint themselves with each other.
The cardinals must also review the complex finances of the Vatican, which has operated at a deficit for the last three years.
