Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Friday, April 08, 2005

Funeral for Pope John Paul II held

Pope John Paul II's funeral was held today:
Presidents, prime ministers and kings joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peter's Square on Friday to bid an emotional farewell to Pope John Paul II at a funeral service that drew millions to Rome for the largest gathering of the powerful and the humble in modern times.

Applause rang out in the wind-whipped square as John Paul's plain cypress coffin, adorned with a cross and an "M" for the Virgin Mary, was brought out from St. Peter's Basilica and placed on a carpet in front of the altar. The book of the Gospel was placed on the coffin and the breeze fluttered its pages.

After the Mass ended, bells tolled and 12 pallbearers with white gloves, white ties and tails presented the coffin to the crowd one last time, and then carried it on their shoulders back inside the basilica for burial - again to sustained applause from the hundreds of thousands in the square, including dignitaries from 138 countries.
Think they've got enough security there?
Rome itself was at a standstill as extraordinary security measures were put in place. Just after midnight Thursday, a ban on vehicle traffic in the city center took effect.

Airspace was closed, and anti-aircraft batteries outside the city were on alert. Naval ships patrolled both the Mediterranean coast and the Tiber near Vatican City, the tiny sovereign city-state encompassed by the Italian capital.

Elite Carabinieri paramilitary police armed with automatic rifles were stationed at virtually every major intersection in Rome.

Combat jets from Italy's air force, joined by an AWACS surveillance plane deployed by NATO, guarded against any strike from above.

Italian security agencies posted snipers on rooftops.

Three hours after the funeral, an Italian F-16 jet fighter intercepted a suspicious plane heading to Rome's Ciampino airport and escorted it to a local military airfield, Italian news agencies reported.

The ANSA agency quoted air force chief Leonardo Tricarico as saying intelligence indicated there might be a bomb on the plane, but none was found.
Without a doubt, this is probably one of the most secure funerals ever held for a religious celebrity.

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