World bids farewell

VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II, his face veiled with white silk and his body resting in a simple cypress casket, was mourned by millions yesterday in one of the biggest funerals the world has ever known and was buried beneath the grand Renaissance basilica where he oversaw the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years.

As the bells of the St. Peter's Basilica tolled a final farewell and a hazy morning sunshine gave way to thickening clouds, 12 pallbearers with white gloves walked the pope's body around the altar where he had so often celebrated Mass, up to the holy door of St. Peter's Basilica. Then they tilted the casket -- adorned with a cross and an ''M" for the Virgin Mary -- to face the vast crowd of princes and prelates, the tens of thousands of cheering pilgrims who slept in the streets overnight, and the millions watching on television around the world.

''None of us can ever forget how in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing," said the homilist, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, referring to one of the pope's final public appearances in which he failed in an attempt to speak but offered a slow, wordless sign of the cross.

''We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father's house, that he sees us and blesses us," Ratzinger said, as many in the crowd looked up toward the shuttered third-floor windows of the pope's apartment, from which John Paul II would frequently greet the faithful.

A stiff wind ruffled a tapestry hanging from the basilica's entrance, blew shut a copy of the Gospel that had been placed on the pope's casket, and whipped about cardinals' red vestments. Ratzinger led a traditional Catholic funeral Mass, in Latin, with a homily in Italian and readings in Spanish and English. Throughout the solemn service, the casket rested on an Oriental rug in front of the altar; at the close of the liturgy, Ratzinger sprinkled it with holy water.

An estimated 300,000 people, many waving flags from their home countries and holding banners reflecting the thousands of miles they had traveled, squeezed between the elliptical arms of the famous Bernini colonnade in St. Peter's Square that stretches out from the facade of the basilica.

Tens of thousands more packed the Via della Conciliazione, a grand boulevard leading from the basilica to the Tiber River, or watched on 27 giant-screen televisions set up around the city, including at two soccer stadiums, a local university, the basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. Mourners also jammed popular gathering spots including Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Risorgimento, and several ancient Roman sites, including the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum.

Around the world, Catholics flocked to church services to watch the funeral, most notably in John Paul's native Poland, where hundreds of thousands gathered in a field in Krakow.

Among the funeral attendees were President Bush and his wife, Laura, as well as former presidents Bush and Clinton, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and both of Massachusetts's US senators, Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry. The Vatican said 10 reigning kings and queens attended, as did 57 heads of state, three princes, 17 prime ministers, and 24 ambassadors.

Also attending were 140 representatives of other faiths, including the Orthodox Christian churches, Protestant churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, and representatives of Judaism and Islam.

The Mass was concelebrated by 164 cardinals, among them, in all likelihood, the man who will be elected the next pope when the 117 cardinals under age 80 gather on April 18 to begin selecting John Paul II's successor. The cardinals wore red chasubles.

Alongside the altar sat scores of bishops, including Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, in purple choir robes. At the front of the crowd were hundreds of priests in black cassocks with white surplices and red stoles.

Mourners sat on folding lawn chairs, mats, newspapers, and sleeping bags -- anything to insulate them from the cold cobblestones of St. Peter's Square.

Sorrow was everywhere. People cried and recited the rosary. One woman, who just missed being admitted to St. Peter's Square, threw her head back in grief. Toward the end of the liturgy, some spectators knelt, faces in hands. One man sobbed until the casket was no longer visible.

But there was also much enthusiasm for the pope, and considerable applause. The pope's casket was cheered as it was carried in and out, and Ratzinger's 20-minute homily, which focused on the pope's faithfulness, was interrupted nine times by clapping.

The crowd included huge numbers of Poles, reflecting the extraordinary pride Poles have felt since the former Karol Wojtyla, in 1978, was chosen to be the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. John Paul II was an early supporter of the Solidarity movement, and his ardent anti-Communism is credited with helping to break the Soviet lock on Eastern Europe. Many of the mourners held red and white Polish flags, and before the start of the funeral, some began to chant, ''Polska," or Poland.

''This was my pope," said Irena Rowell, 32, who said she traveled 32 hours by train from Warsaw to Rome. ''As Poles, we were very close to him. I just feel very lucky that I had a chance to say goodbye and thank you."

Many in the crowd were young, reflecting the pontiff's emphasis on reaching out to children and young adults through large events such as World Youth Day.

''He captured our soul with a lot of force," said Javier Martin, 16, of Madrid, who said that even though his parents are not particularly religious he has become a daily communicant through the teachings of John Paul. Martin, with a sleeping bag and a guitar slung over his shoulder, said he spent every penny he had saved to fly to Rome for the funeral.

Martin said the pope, who died last Saturday at 84, ''was as cool as if he was 20. I will miss him, but I know he is watching over us."

After the Mass, the pope's casket was carried into the grottoes beneath the basilica and the coffin was sealed in red ribbon, encased in a zinc container and then placed into another wooden casket, the Vatican said. In keeping with John Paul's wishes, the coffin was then lowered into a grave, which was covered with a marble slab.

Beyond the day's events, official business in Rome ground to a halt. Offices closed, school was canceled, and armed police stopped all private cars from entering the city center. The transit authority rerouted buses and added extra drivers to handle the influx of pilgrims.

With huge crowds of visitors flowing toward Vatican City and the video broadcast in the Circus Maximus and other parks, many Romans walked to one of the great urban basilicas that ring the residential neighborhoods.

At St. John Lateran, the city's official cathedral, older couples mixed with teenagers. An estimated 6,000 people crowded the cathedral's piazza to watch a broadcast of the funeral beneath its towering statues of Jesus and the Apostles.

Some knelt in the asphalt on the closed-off street; others sat silently inside the church, praying.

''It's a unique moment," said Cinzia delle Site, 31, who lives just a few minutes' walk from the church, and who stood outside. ''In 30 years, I've never seen this many people. Never."

Stephen Heuser and Charles M. Sennott of the Globe staff, and correspondent Sofia Celeste, contributed to this report from Rome.

World bids farewell

Princes, prelates, pilgrims gather to mourn John Paul II