Pope John Paul II dies at 84

Roman Catholics all over the world gather to mourn

Saturday, April 2, 2005

(CNN) -- John Paul II, whose 26-year reign as the charismatic leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics was highlighted by visits to 129 countries, died Saturday. He was 84.

"The Holy Father is deceased this evening at 9:37 in his private apartment," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a written statement.

"Our beloved Holy Father John Paul II has returned to his home. Let us pray for him," he added.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's secretary of state, asked the throng of thousands of faithful who had congregated in St. Peter's Square for a few moments of silence as he announced the death to thousands gathered at the site. Members of the crowd bowed their heads to pray, some of them in tears.

They then burst into applause.

"Let perpetual light shine on him and let him repose in peace," he said.

A Mass in the pope's honor will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, he said.

The pope was known for his energy, intellectualism and activism on the global stage. His health had been deteriorating severely for several weeks and he had battled Parkinson's disease and crippling arthritis for years.

John Paul II had been slipping in and out of consciousness on Saturday after his heart and kidneys started to fail after a urinary tract infection.

Navarro-Valls said that despite his precarious health, the pope had decided to remain in his residence at the Vatican, rather than returning to Gemelli hospital in Rome, where he had been hospitalized twice since February.

He was administered the sacrament of anointing the sick, formerly known as last rites or extreme unction, on Thursday night.

Pilgrims, tourists and Italians filled St. Peter's Square on Saturday, hours after tens of thousands of people packed the vast space in a nighttime vigil.

Friday night, thousands of people gathered in Krakow, Poland -- where John Paul served as archbishop before becoming pope -- at the archbishop's residence, many carrying candles and crying. People in the crowd prayed and sang for their fellow Pole.

"To Polish people, he is an icon," said Alicja Kapusciarz, a Polish-American woman in Washington.

Lengthy reign as pope

Rising from humble beginnings in pre-World War II Poland, he was the most widely traveled pope in history and was the first to visit the White House, a synagogue and communist Cuba.

Only two of his 263 predecessors served longer than he did -- St. Peter, the first pope, and Pius IX in the 19th century.

Supporters and critics alike agree on the immense significance of his papacy.

He played a key role in the fall of communism and brought the Catholic message in person to an unprecedented number of people.

He drew enormous crowds in his public appearances and was known for his courage and integrity.

A profoundly conservative leader, he reaffirmed many of the church's stances on issues such as abortion, homosexuality and the role of women in the church.

Despite criticism, he remained unwavering on those and other stances, including his preference for centralized authority within the church, which some saw as hindering a move toward a more democratic church.

Chronic illnesses

The pope suffered from severe hip and knee ailments and Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder that can make breathing and swallowing difficult.

On February 24, doctors performed a tracheotomy to help him breathe, as he struggled to recover from a bout of flu that hospitalized him.

On Wednesday, a feeding tube was put down his nose into his stomach to provide additional nutrition.

The feeding tube was inserted shortly after the pope's regular weekly audience, where he appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square for about four minutes.

Unable to speak, he used hand gestures to bless thousands of people who gathered for a glimpse of him.

On Easter, the pope also tried to speak to the crowds but could not get out the words. Ill health forced him to miss several events during Holy Week preceding Easter.

Papal legacy

John Paul was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland.

After his ordination as a priest in November 1946, he rose steadily through the church hierarchy, becoming archbishop of Krakow in 1964.

He was elevated to cardinal in a secret consistory in 1968 and formally installed in a Vatican ceremony days later.

Despite his reputation as a formidable theologian and fearless defender of Catholic interests, his election as pope October 16, 1978 -- the first-ever Slavic pope and the first non-Italian to occupy the post in 455 years -- came as a surprise.

So too did the energy and determination he brought to his papacy, never letting health issues get in the way of his travels.

Not even an attempted assassination in 1981 kept him down. A Turk named Mehmet Ali Agca shot him twice. The pope recovered and later met Agca in prison and personally forgave him.

He re-established the Vatican's diplomatic relations with Great Britain and the United States, as well as with Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

He delivered more than 2,000 public addresses and issued countless numbers of encyclicals and apostolic letters, making him one of the most active men ever to occupy the papal see. He canonized 482 saints, more than any other pontiff, and created 232 cardinals.

His papacy was divided into two distinct halves.

"In the first 10 years his great concern was with communism," said Warsaw-based Catholic commentator Jonathon Luxmore. "Since then his focus has been more on the ills of Western society."

John Paul's role in the fall of communism was a subtle but crucial one. His visit to Poland in 1979 and his support for the Solidarity movement were key in the chain of events that led to the eventual crumbling of Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski's regime 10 years later.

His stand against what he saw as the moral failure of Western capitalism, however, was notably less successful.

Although his outspoken views on human rights gained him many admirers, his preaching in such areas as sexual mores, science and the role of women in the church alienated many liberal Catholics.

"He was what you might call a revolutionary conservative," said Giovanni Ferro, editor of the Rome-based Catholic magazine Jesus.

"In some areas he was very forward-minded. In others, however, he was an extremely traditionalist pope. He maintained all sorts of opposing currents in the church, with the result that his successor will probably be faced with a great crisis of direction."

Who that successor will be remains to be decided by the College of Cardinals, which will meet at the Vatican in the coming days to select the next pope.

Whoever it is will struggle to make his mark, succeeding as he does one of the longest-serving and most contentious figures in papal history.

"One thing is for certain," Luxmore said. "[John Paul II] is going to be a terrifically hard act to follow."

Nach dem Tod von Johannes Paul II. wird nichts dem Zufall überlassen – bis zur Wahl seines Nachfolgers gilt ein strenges Protokoll.


Zwischen dem Ende eines Pontifikates und dem „Habemus Papam“ liegt die Sedisvakanz, die Zeit, in der der Apostolische Stuhl verwaist ist.

„Schläfst du?“

Um den Tod eines Papstes festzustellen, war früher ein kleiner Hammer aus Elfenbein nötig. Damit klopfte der Kardinal-Camerlengo, der Kardinalskämmerer der römisch-katholischen Kirche, drei Mal an die Stirn des Papstes und fragte ihn auf Latein, ob er schlafe. Johannes Paul II. schaffte das jahrhundertealte Ritual ab. Am Samstagabend stellte der Camerlengo im Beisein des Päpstlichen Zeremonienmeisters, der Prälaten und des Sekretärs der Apostolischen Kammer den Tod des Papstes offiziell fest.

Der Sekretär stellt die Todesurkunde aus. Der Camerlengo versiegelt das Arbeitszimmer sowie die Privatgemächer des Papstes, vernichtet den päpstlichen Fischerring und das Päpstliche Siegel. Eine Autopsie ist nicht vorgesehen.

Neun Tage Trauer

Der Papst soll neun Tage betrauert werden. Sein Leichnam wird in den Petersdom überführt und dort für die Gläubigen aufgebahrt. Die Bestattung soll nach Wunsch von Johannes Paul II. zwischen dem vierten und dem sechsten Tag stattfinden. Die vergangenen Päpste sind in der Krypta unter dem Petersdom begraben.

Während der Stuhl Petri verwaist ist, leitet das Kardinalskollegium die Geschicke der römisch-katholischen Kirche. Sie dürfen allerdings nur die alltäglichen Geschäfte der Kirche führen. Mögliche Versuche, während der Sedisvakanz nachträglich Korrekturen am Kurs des verstorbenen Papstes vorzunehmen oder sonstige Entscheidungen zu treffen, die nur dem Papst obliegen, erklärte Johannes Paul II. von vornherein für nichtig und ungültig.


120 Geistliche wählen Papst

Die Kardinäle haben mindestens 15 Tage Zeit, um aus der ganzen Welt zur Papstwahl nach Rom zu strömen. Spätestens 20 Tage nach dem Tod des Papstes jedoch müssen sich alle wahlberechtigten Kardinäle ins „Konklave“ begeben, um einen neuen Papst aus ihrer Mitte zu wählen. Über den neuen Pontifex dürfen nur die Kardinäle bestimmen, die das 80. Lebensjahr noch nicht vollendet haben. Fernbleiben dürfen sie nur aus schwer wiegendem Grund, der von dem Kardinalskollegium anerkannt werden muss. In feierlicher Chorkleidung ziehen die höchstens 120 Papstwähler singend in das Konklave ein.

Im Vatikan eingeschlossen

Der Name – vom Lateinischen „cum clave“ für „mit dem Schlüssel“ – ist Programm: Die Kardinäle werden im Vatikan eingeschlossen. Sie dürfen weder Briefe schreiben noch erhalten, nicht telefonieren oder auf andere Art mit Personen kommunizieren, die mit der Wahl nichts zu tun haben. Sie wohnen – nachdem es bei dem vorletzten Konklave Beschwerden über die schlechte Unterbringung und eine in den Zimmern herrschende „Hitze wie im Backofen“ gegeben haben soll, nun in einem Gästehaus im Vatikan. Die Wahl selbst findet in der Sixtinischen Kapelle statt und ist streng geheim. Die Räumlichkeiten sind – so wollte es Johannes Paul II. – vor Beginn des Konklave auf technische Geräte zur Aufzeichnung zu untersuchen.

Strengste Geheimhaltung

Zwar ist der Ablauf des Konklave bis hin zu den Eidformeln, der Anzahl der pro Tag zulässigen Wahlgänge und der Form der Wahlzettel strengstens geregelt. Über alles andere jedoch müssen die Kardinäle Geheimhaltung schwören. Ob die Vorgänge unter den Fresken Michelangelos dann von Machtkämpfen oder vom Heiligen Geist bestimmt werden, ist Glaubenssache. Den Kardinälen ist es jedenfalls bei Androhung der Exkommunikation verboten, Abkommen oder Verträge zu schließen. Für den Fall, dass doch welche geschlossen werden, sind sie von vornhinein ungültig.

Die einzige Verbindung der Außenwelt zum Konklave ist in dieser Zeit ein kleiner Schornstein über der Kapelle. Steigt daraus schwarzer Rauch auf, erreichte keiner der Kandidaten die notwendige Mehrheit. Erst wenn einer der Kardinäle zwei Drittel der Stimmen plus eine weitere Stimme erreicht, ist der neue Papst gewählt, aus dem Schornstein steigt weißer Rauch auf. Dann eilen die Römer auf den Petersplatz, um dabei zu sein, wenn der erste der Kardinaldiakone dem wartenden Volk mit dem „Habemus Papam – Wir haben einen Papst“ – den neuen Pontifex präsentiert.