Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Thousands visit John Paul II's grave as cardinals prepare

By wire services
Published April 14, 2005

VATICAN CITY - Thousands of mourners filed past the grave of Pope John Paul II after the Vatican reopened its grottoes for public viewing Wednesday, many carrying rosaries and medals they hoped would be blessed by the spirit of a man they already consider a saint.

Pilgrims knelt in prayer, some with tears streaming down their faces. Many handed rosaries or religious medals to an usher behind the red rope, who briefly laid the trinkets on the marble tomb before returning them to their owners.

Meanwhile, cardinals discussed the state of the Roman Catholic Church and prepared for their conclave next week to select a new pope.

Italian newspapers reported that support was building for conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Many pilgrims emerged from the grottoes feeling that they had made some kind of connection with John Paul. Some said they had come not only to pray for the pope, but also to pray for his intercession. Many Catholics believe John Paul, who died April 2 at age 84, was a saint.

"I'm hoping maybe for a little miracle. I'm praying to him that my husband gets his eyesight back," said Myrna Palmer, 67, of Hagerstown, Md. Her husband, Gorman, lost sight in one eye after chemotherapy.

The tomb sits alone in an arched alcove beneath the basilica. A rectangular white slab of marble bears John Paul's name carved with gold in Latin script: "IOANNES PAULUS PPII" (PP is the Latin abbreviation for pope). It also gives the dates of his 26-year pontificate and has an interlocking X and P, the monogram for Christ.

On Wednesday, 140 of the cardinals discussed the state of the church and some technical matters, the Vatican said. They also accepted formal condolences on John Paul's death from ambassadors to the Vatican.

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that at least 40 cardinals have voiced some backing for Ratzinger. Another newspaper, La Repubblica, put the number of possible Ratzinger backers at 50.

The reports could not be independently verified. The cardinals have agreed not to talk to the media until after the conclave, and preconclave meetings are private. To become pope, a candidate needs a two-thirds majority, or 77 votes.

Ratzinger represents the camp of cardinals who advocate hewing closely to John Paul's most traditional policies. An opposing bloc of cardinals is said to prefer change and "collegiality," which refers to decentralization of Vatican power and the restoration of more independence to local dioceses.

Ratzinger, who will turn 78 on Saturday, also may appeal to those seeking an older pope and a shorter "transitional" papacy that would give the church time to calm the waters and absorb John Paul's legacy before charting a longer-term future. The newspapers said the blocs opposed to Ratzinger have not united around a single name.

On Wednesday, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper of Munich published excerpts of Ratzinger's new book, Values in Times of Upheaval. A spokeswoman for the publishing house, Herder, said the release date was a coincidence and not tied to the papal election.

"In order to survive, Europe needs a critical acceptance of its Christian culture," Ratzinger wrote. "Europe seems, in the very moment of its greatest success, to have become empty from the inside. Crippled, as it were."

--Information from the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times was used in this report.

[Last modified April 14, 2005, 01:17:13]