Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II
Template:Current-short Following the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005, the Vatican will begin a nine day ritual of celebrating the life of the Pope and mourning his loss to the world.
Mass of repose
A mass of repose of the soul of the Holy Father took place on Sunday April 3, 2005 to celebrate his life by Angelo Cardinal Sodano and then followed at noon with a Marian prayer of Easter (Regina Coeli) recited.
Lying in state
At this time, the Vatican is expecting his body to lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica on Monday, April 4, 2005. The General Congregation of Cardinals' will be held at the Bologna Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
Mass and interment
A Mass is expected to take place on Thursday, April 7, 2005 before the Pope is interred. A Vatican Official has announced that the funeral will take place on Friday, April 8. The service will start at 10 AM in St. Peter's Square and pontiff will be entombed in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. However there were rumors that the Pope might be buried in Poland. If this does not come to pass, some Poles are considering asking the Vatican for the heart of the Pontiff so that it may be placed in Wawel Cathedral, the historic resting place of some of Poland's greatest kings.
The funeral will be presided over by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Dean of the College of Cardinals and closest associate to John Paul II.
Prominent likely attendees
More than 200 heads of state and government are expected to attend the funeral. Here are just some of them:
Heads of State
- Albert II, King of the Belgians, and Queen Paola
- Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria
- George W. Bush, President of the United States and Laura Bush
- Jacques Chirac, President of France and Bernadette Chirac
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy
- Heinz Fischer, President of Austria
- Vicente Fox, President of Mexico
- Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
- Horst Köhler, President of Germany
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro
- Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
- Abel Pacheco, President of Costa Rica
- Jorge Sampaio, President of Portugal
- King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofia
- Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
- Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran
Heads of Government
- Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy
- Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and current President of the European Council
- Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada and Sheila Martin
- Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
- Guy Verhofstadt, Prime Minister of Belgium
- José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
- Wolfgang Schüssel, Chancellor of Austria
Other government officials and government representatives
- Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations
- José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
- Rafael Bielsa, Foreign Minister of Argentina
- Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal
- Alí Rodríguez, Foreign Minister of Venezuela
- Silvan Shalom, Foreign Minister of Israel
- Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Vice President of India
- Vuk Drašković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro
Religious officials
Other personalities
- Charles, Prince of Wales
- Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland
- George H. Bush, former President of the United States
- Bill Clinton, former President of the United States
- Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States