All hotels within 124 miles of Rome fully booked already...

[eek.]

2 million Poles on the way...Pilgrims from Spain have been crowding the roads to Italy...etc

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>One million queue to mourn Pope





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The streets around St Peter's Square are filled with pilgrims





</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->The Catholic Church's cardinals are meeting at the Vatican to finalise arrangements for the funeral of Pope John Paul II later this week.



The cardinals have also decided that the closed-door process of electing the next pope will begin on 18 April.

The number of mourners queuing in St Peter's Square in Rome to view the Pope's body has now reached a million.

Hundreds of thousands more pilgrims are reported to be on their way.

The tightly packed lines of people queuing the see the Pope's body lying in state in St Peter's Basilica stretch back nearly 2km (1.2 miles).

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</TD><TD class=sibtbg>FUNERAL GUESTS


UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
US President George W Bush
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Palestinian leader Ahmed Qurei
French President Jacques Chirac
DR Congo President Joseph Kabila
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso

<!-- S ILIN -->Viewing the Pope
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Rome braced for multitudes
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Each hour, 18,000 people are filing past the pontiff lying in state in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Italian phone companies have been sending text messages warning mourners that they can expect a wait of up to 12 hours.

One man from Naples said he had been waiting in the queue with his wife for seven hours.

"These sacrifices that we are making now are nothing compared to what he deserves," Gino d'Anna told Reuters news agency.

Some two million Poles are reported to be on their way to say goodbye to their countryman at his funeral on Friday.

Extra planes, buses and trains have been laid on after Rome-bound flights on Polish airlines were sold out within hours of the funeral date being announced.

"This event, it is not going to happen again," one woman told the BBC. "I have to go because I love the Pope and I want to spend this time with him there in Rome."

Pilgrims from Spain have also been crowding the roads to Italy.

'Worthwhile sacrifice'

In Rome itself, the roads and underground railway are already congested with mourners.

Hotels within a 200km (124 mile) radius are reported to be full, and the authorities are arranging makeshift dormitories and campsites.

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More than a million people have filed past the Pope lying in state





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Airspace over Rome will be closed on Thursday and Friday, as tight security is put in force for the many foreign leaders arriving for the Pope's funeral.

Some 200 foreign dignitaries will attend, including US President George W Bush, his predecessor Bill Clinton, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The cardinals gathering in Rome set Monday 18 April for the grand gathering of cardinals, known as a conclave, that meets to pick a new Pope.

They also read a testament left behind by the Pope, which they plan to publish on Thursday.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4416171.stm

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[xpanda]

Wow. That sure is some love!

 

[Jointpleasure]

Reagan's funeral was much more classy.

 

[eek.]

who?

 

[docmercer--banned]

Joint:

dont put Reagan - he of the dysfunctional family - in the same sentence as this great man ....

Ghees, give us all a break and save the Limbaugh mentality @ home

 

[Redneckman]

Doc Mullah, I thought republicans were the racists, sexists, and homphobes. Sounds like you have a problem with dysfunctional families?

 

[OKSOONER]

Do you thimk there is some price goughing!!

 

[docmercer--banned]

Redneckman: Get with the program ... you dont get it:

Do not mention Reagan in the same sentence with The Pope ... this will be the most watched Television event in
history

Pay respect to this man

 

[Redneckman]

What do you have against dysfunctional families?

 

[DarrylParsons]

That article makes me wonder whether some of my ancestors were from a distant planet...hard to think of anything I can relate to less that has so much attention from so many million earthlings.

 

[docmercer--banned]

I have nothing against dysfunctional families ...

to compare Reagan to this Pope is laughable @ best and a disgusting comparison ...

Reagan died ... I did not watch ONE MINUTE of the Procession .. I will tune in live Friday morning as this was one of the great men in our lifetime

 

[eek.]

Hehe.

Rome has a population of 3 million.
4 million pilgrims have turned up so far...its a logistical nightmare.

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Rome seeks to curb pilgrim crowds



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President George W Bush is one of the first foreign leaders to arrive



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Rome authorities have urged pilgrims to stay away from the city centre, saying it cannot cope with any more before Friday's funeral of Pope John Paul II.


One million people are still waiting to see the Pope lying in state but the queue has been cut off to new people.

US President George W Bush has flown into Rome for the funeral, going immediately to St Peter's Basilica to pray before the body of the Pope.

Cardinals will begin the process of electing a new pope on 18 April.

<!-- S ILIN -->Click here to see a map showing the queue of mourners
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Around four million visitors have descended on Rome - which has a population of three million - since the pontiff's death on Saturday, said city police chief Achille Serra.

"The number of people is staggering and is growing constantly," Mr Serra told Reuters news agency. "This is unprecedented".

Some two million faithful were expected from Poland, the Pope's homeland, alone.

At its height, the tightly-packed queue of people wanting to see the Pope's body stretched back nearly 2km (1.2 miles). The queue was cut late on Wednesday night, to ensure that those in line have time to view the Pope.

Video screens

An Italian security official has warned that Rome is saturated with pilgrims and "can't take any more".

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Massive crowds have been queuing to see the Pope's body.

Enlarge Image


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"Anyone who arrives between tonight (Wednesday) and tomorrow will have no chance of following the funeral," said special security commissioner Guido Bertolaso.

He urged pilgrims to head to Tor Vegata university campus, which is equipped to accommodate thousands of people.

And he also asked those in tent cities on the outskirts of Rome to stay put and watch the funeral from video screens.

The gates of St Peter's Basilica will be closed from Thursday evening in preparation for the funeral on Friday.

Airspace over Rome will also close, as tight security is put in force for the arrival of many foreign leaders.

'Secret cardinal'

Among the first to arrive was US President George W Bush. He will be the first US president to attend a Pope's funeral.

Visiting St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday evening, he was joined by his wife Laura, his father the former President George Bush, former President Bill Clinton and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

<!-- S IBOX --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=5>

</TD><TD class=sibtbg>FUNERAL GUESTS

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
US President George W Bush
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei
French President Jacques Chirac
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian
DR Congo President Joseph Kabila
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso

<!-- S ILIN -->Preparing for the grave
<!-- E ILIN --><!-- S ILIN -->Poles flock to Vatican
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IBOX -->The Vatican announced on Wednesday that the cardinals of the Catholic Church will begin their conclave on 18 April.

The process to elect a new pope will take place behind closed doors and could take more than a week.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Pope's 15-page testament had been opened and read by the cardinals, but would not be published until Thursday. Mr Navarro-Valls said the text, written in Polish, had not revealed the name of a mystery cardinal secretly appointed by the Pope in 2003,. Popes sometimes name cardinals "in pectore" (in the heart) and keep their names secret if revealing the identity would put them in physical danger.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4418687.stm


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