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In the hours before the Pope's death, candles held by thousands of the faithful flicker in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.
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John Paul II dead at 84

John Paul II dead at 84

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II died yesterday in his Vatican apartment as thousands of pilgrims gathered outside his lit windows and prayed by candlelight for his beloved Mary to guide him into the everlasting presence of her Son.

Born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland he succumbed finally to years of illness endured painfully and publicly, ending an extraordinary, if sometimes polarizing, 26-year reign that remade the papacy.

"We are all orphans this evening," Undersecretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri told the crowd of 70,000. There were tears for the 84-year-old Pope who had suffered greatly in his final years. They were not tears of anguish but of separation and loss.

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"The angels welcome you," Vatican TV said after papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced the death of the Pope, who had for years suffered from Parkinson's disease and recently had been debilitated by the flu, breathing difficulties, and infections.

In contrast to the church's ancient traditions, Mr. Navarro-Valls announced the death to journalists in the most modern of communication forms, an e-mail that said: "The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. [Rome time; 2:37 p.m. Toledo time] in his private apartment."

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the German prelate who is the chief guardian of church doctrine, said John Paul had been aware that he was "passing to the Lord."

The Vatican said the body of John Paul II will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica no sooner than tomorrow. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that his funeral is expected no sooner than Thursday.

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The Vatican has declined to say whether John Paul left instructions for his burial. Most popes in recent centuries have asked to be buried in the crypts below St. Peter's Basilica, but some have suggested the first Polish-born pope might have chosen to be laid to rest in his native country.

Members of the College of Cardinals were already headed toward the Vatican to prepare for the secret duty of locking themselves in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope. Tradition calls for the process to begin within 20 days of death.

Hospitalized twice since Feb. 1, John Paul II's health hit its last crisis on Thursday, when the Vatican announced that a urinary tract infection had caused a high fever and unstable blood pressure. In the next day, his kidneys and cardio-respiratory system began to fail. Yesterday morning, Mr. Navarro-Valls announced grimly that the Pope had begun to fade from consciousness.

His last hours were spent, Mr. Navarro-Valls said in a statement early today, by "the uninterrupted prayer of all those who surrounded him."

He died almost immediately after the Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday - a feast John Paul himself had instituted - was celebrated in his room by his longtime aide and close friend, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.

The Pontiff was once again given the final sacraments of the church - the anointing of the sick and a final Eucharist called the viaticum, which means "food for the journey." He was surrounded by several priests and prelates who are close friends, the sisters who tend his apartment, three physicians, and two nurses.

John Paul's passing set in motion centuries of tradition that mark the death of the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

The Vatican chamberlain formally verified the death and destroyed the symbols of the Pope's authority: his fisherman's ring and dies used to make lead seals for apostolic letters.

The Vatican did not say if the chamberlain followed the ancient practice of verification by calling the Pope's name three times and tapping his forehead three times with a silver hammer.

At the news of the Pope's death, the cardinals who had been leading the faithful in the Rosary from the steps of St. Peter's, guided them in reciting Psalm, 130: "Out of the depths I cry to you O Lord. ..."

Candles flickered everywhere. A group formed a cross on the cobblestones using small prayer candles. Others melted the candles directly onto the paving stones or placed them on the edge of the fountains and pedestals of streetlights. Some left behind rose petals and bouquets.

Traffic on the streets leading to the Vatican was brought to a standstill as thousands more people tried to reach St. Peter's Square.

Throughout the evening, a large group of young people, veterans of the World Youth Day celebrations that John Paul had created to bring faith alive in a new generation, serenaded him with joyful songs. They would call his name and applaud, the larger crowd joining in. Many times in the past when he was weak, the presence and voices of young people always seemed to revive him, but it was not to be.

Bridgette Wright, 20, of Latrobe, Pa., is studying theology at the Angelicum University where John Paul studied when he was little older than she. She had stood keeping vigil, holding a candle.

"I love the Pope. I have read a lot of his works and feel that I know him. It's like he's one of my best friends," she said, shortly before his death.

Ms. Wright attended World Youth Day 2000 in Rome, and said she was drawn by his tangible love. "He is loving to everyone. Look around this square. I'm sure this isn't just Catholics. He united the world. There is a unity that comes out of his love."

Indeed, David Schwartz, 21, of New York City is a Jew who happened to be visiting Rome and came to the square because he knew it was a chance to witness a monumental event in history. He was there when John Paul died.

"Even though I don't share their faith, I find myself moved because so many other people are moved," he said. "It's human nature to share emotions like that. And there is something spiritual in this place. The colonnade is like a pair of arms enclosing everyone, creating a community. I've never been in such a large spiritual community."

Joseph Dunn, 41, a Catholic from Scotland just happened to be staying in Rome with his wife and six children this week. They all kept vigil in the square until the end. He kept remembering the vibrant John Paul who had visited his hometown of Glasgow, and displayed tremendous humor in his remarks.

"He was such a prayerful man. He opened the papacy to people of my generation," Mr. Dunn said.

At midnight the crowds were still growing. And the young people who had sung beneath his windows in his final hours resumed their joyful choruses. It was the Easter season, a time of resurrection, and they knew he would want them to proclaim the gospel message of joy that lies beyond the grave.

A Mass was scheduled for St. Peter's Square for 10:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. Toledo time) today.

Karol Joseph Wojtyla was a robust 58 when the last papal conclave stunned the world and elected the cardinal from Krakow, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

In his later years, John Paul - the most-traveled pope in history - was the picture of frailty. In addition to Parkinson's, he survived a 1981 assassination attempt, when a Turkish gunman shot him in the abdomen, and had hip and knee ailments. His anguished struggle with failing health became a symbol of aging and, in the end, death with dignity.

In his last public appearance, from his window on Wednesday, he looked weak and gaunt, unable to pronounce a blessing to the crowd. Still recovering from a tracheotomy operation on Feb. 24, a pope known for his great ability as a communicator could hardly speak.

He served either the second or third longest of any pope, depending who did the counting, in the nearly 2,000-year history of the papacy. He transformed the papacy into a television-ready voice for peace, war, and life, from the womb to the wheelchair. He also reached beyond religion into human rights and politics, encouraging his fellow Poles and other Europeans to reject communism. Many historians believe he deserves part of the credit for the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union.

Even as his own voice faded away, his views on the sanctity of all human life echoed unambiguously among Catholics and Christian evangelicals in the United States on issues from abortion to the end of life.

John Paul II's detractors were often as passionate as his supporters, criticizing him for what they said was tradition-bound papacy in need of a bolder connection with modern life if the church wanted to bring back to the faith people in more secular western nations.

But he defied easy definition: For all his conservatism on social and theological issues, he was decidedly forward looking - too much so even for some cardinals - on the sensitive question of other religions.

While never veering from his belief that Jesus Christ alone was capable of saving the souls of human beings, he reached out tirelessly to other faiths, becoming the first pope to set foot in a synagogue, in Rome in 1986, as well as in a mosque, in Damascus in 2001.

And, as attention turned to who might be the next the pope, most experts said John Paul-like charisma would no longer be optional. He was a most public man: traveling, bear-hugging, chatting, and preaching the value of love with a warmth that belied his often-doctrinaire positions on church issues.

"He came across in some ways as a regular guy," said Michael Walsh, a British biographer of the Pope and former Jesuit priest. "Famous for looking at his watch. What pope looks at his watch? In Britain we're proud that he used to wear Doc Martin boots. He would watch football, drink a glass of wine."

This story contains reporting from the Associated Press and New York Times.

The Block News Alliance consists of The Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Ann Rodgers is a religion writer for the Post-Gazette.

First Published April 3, 2005, 4:07 p.m.

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In the hours before the Pope's death, candles held by thousands of the faithful flicker in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.
Pope John Paul II walks and talks with then-President Ronald Reagan inside the garden of the Vizcaya, a mansion in Miami, during a visit to the United States in September, 1987.  (SCOTT STEWART / Associated Press)
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