Friday, April 08, 2005
Report from Rome
Apr. 07 (CWNews.com) - The city of Rome is calm tonight, on the eve of the funeral for Pope John Paul II (bio - news). But officials are bracing for unprecedented crowds on Friday morning, April 8.
On Wednesday evening, police closed off access to the long line of mourners waiting to view the deceased Pope's body in St. Peter's basilica. Some people have managed to insinuate themselves into the line, but the crush of people approaching the Vatican has eased considerably. Late on Thursday afternoon there were still about 150,000 people in the line-- a mere fraction of the number from the previous day. The public viewing of the Pope's remains will continue until the early hours of Friday, when preparations will begin for the funeral.
The line of mourners now includes many people carrying Polish flags: representatives of a veritable army of Polish Catholics who have arrived in Rome to honor their native son. By Friday morning, officials expect 1 million or more Poles to have arrived: by plane, bus, train, and private cars.
Police are broadcasting public-service messages constantly in hopes of easing traffic congestion. Italian cell-phone carriers are also sending out text messages, reminding customers of both the severe restrictions that have been imposed on vehicular traffic around the city on Friday, and the new efforts made by authorities to accommodate pilgrims. In one such effort, officials are putting up several giant video screens at the Tor Vergata grounds outside Rome, where thousands of pilgrims are now camping, to discourage them from attempting to enter the city.
On Thursday morning, the perimeter of the Vatican was cordoned off, and access severely restricted. Many pilgrims have made themselves as comfortable as possible on the sidewalks of nearby streets, or around the Castel Sant'Angelo a few blocks away, waiting for authorities to open St. Peter's Square early on Friday morning. Many thousands of people are still pouring into the city-- their arrival delayed by brutal traffic snarls and delays in train schedules. Since they are being strongly advised not to approach the Vatican immediately upon their arrival, they are settling into quarters in other parts of the city. No one knows how many of these people will join the enormous crowds for the funeral.
Meanwhile public officials are setting up video screens in different locations around the city so that pilgrims do not need to travel to the Vatican, where the crowds will quickly overflow the available space.
Automobile traffic around Rome will be shut down from 2 in the morning until 6 in the evening on April 8, the date of the funeral-- which has been declared a national day of mourning, so that most businesses will be closed. The air space above the city will also be closed during the day, and air traffic in and out of Rome will be sharply curtailed as the airlines alter their routes to comply with that ban.
City officials are reluctant to estimate the size of the crowd for the funeral, but no one doubts that the number will exceed 2 million, and the highest estimates range upward to 5 million-- approaching the size of the crowdd that gathered around Pope John Paul II for World Youth Day in Manila, probably the largest crowd in world history.
On Wednesday evening, police closed off access to the long line of mourners waiting to view the deceased Pope's body in St. Peter's basilica. Some people have managed to insinuate themselves into the line, but the crush of people approaching the Vatican has eased considerably. Late on Thursday afternoon there were still about 150,000 people in the line-- a mere fraction of the number from the previous day. The public viewing of the Pope's remains will continue until the early hours of Friday, when preparations will begin for the funeral.
The line of mourners now includes many people carrying Polish flags: representatives of a veritable army of Polish Catholics who have arrived in Rome to honor their native son. By Friday morning, officials expect 1 million or more Poles to have arrived: by plane, bus, train, and private cars.
Police are broadcasting public-service messages constantly in hopes of easing traffic congestion. Italian cell-phone carriers are also sending out text messages, reminding customers of both the severe restrictions that have been imposed on vehicular traffic around the city on Friday, and the new efforts made by authorities to accommodate pilgrims. In one such effort, officials are putting up several giant video screens at the Tor Vergata grounds outside Rome, where thousands of pilgrims are now camping, to discourage them from attempting to enter the city.
On Thursday morning, the perimeter of the Vatican was cordoned off, and access severely restricted. Many pilgrims have made themselves as comfortable as possible on the sidewalks of nearby streets, or around the Castel Sant'Angelo a few blocks away, waiting for authorities to open St. Peter's Square early on Friday morning. Many thousands of people are still pouring into the city-- their arrival delayed by brutal traffic snarls and delays in train schedules. Since they are being strongly advised not to approach the Vatican immediately upon their arrival, they are settling into quarters in other parts of the city. No one knows how many of these people will join the enormous crowds for the funeral.
Meanwhile public officials are setting up video screens in different locations around the city so that pilgrims do not need to travel to the Vatican, where the crowds will quickly overflow the available space.
Automobile traffic around Rome will be shut down from 2 in the morning until 6 in the evening on April 8, the date of the funeral-- which has been declared a national day of mourning, so that most businesses will be closed. The air space above the city will also be closed during the day, and air traffic in and out of Rome will be sharply curtailed as the airlines alter their routes to comply with that ban.
City officials are reluctant to estimate the size of the crowd for the funeral, but no one doubts that the number will exceed 2 million, and the highest estimates range upward to 5 million-- approaching the size of the crowdd that gathered around Pope John Paul II for World Youth Day in Manila, probably the largest crowd in world history.
