Photo: Jay Directo / Getty Images
The death of Pope John Paul II was announced to the crowd gathered in Saint Peter’s Square
after a prayer vigil for Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope’s vicar in Rome, as tradition dictates. Near 60.000 people participated in this vigil. Many broke down in tears at the announcement of John Paul II’s death, while others gave long applause to the memory of John Paul II, before an impressive silence fell over a gathered audience.
The news of the death of John Paul II was received with deep contemplation in Rome, but also in Poland. Throughout the country, church bells rang in mourning. Tens of thousands of Poles spent the night from Saturday to Sunday in night vigils in churches.
In Warsaw, more than 15.04 Poles gathered only in the Church of St. Anne. It was there that the new Pope had met the young people during his first pilgrimage in June 1979. In Wadowice, the birthplace of John Paul II, thousands of Poles fell silent when they realized that the Pope had died when they heard the ringing of the church bells.
At the same time, in Mexico, thousands of faithful gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in front of which find a bronze statue of John Paul II.
In Paris, the great bourdon of Notre-Dame, a bell of 13 tons reserved for very special occasions, it rang and a crowd gathered in the cathedral, where a large image of John Paul II towered over the altar.
His health deteriorated after a femur fracture in 2005. Shortly after, he discovered that he suffered from Parkinson’s disease , although that does not prevent him from continuing with the numerous activities him for many more years. But, the Pope’s health problems worsened at the beginning of 2005.
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