Funeral details: Pope John Paul II will be buried in the crypt of the Basilica of St Peter's, close to where Pope John XXIII now lies.
In a half-hour ceremony that will follow Friday's three-hour funeral on the steps of St Peter's, the Pope will be "walled" into his last resting place, covered by a flat tombstone bearing his name and his date of birth and death. As preparations for Friday's funeral went on in the Vatican yesterday, the Holy See's Maestro of Liturgical Celebrations, Mgr Piero Marini, outlined some of the details of a complex ceremony due to be attended by more than 200 world leaders, including US president George Bush and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Britain's Prince Charles, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Even as Mgr Marini spoke to the Vatican press corps, some idea of the logistical problems due to be faced on Friday were happening less than 50 metres away at the door of the Sala Stampa on Via della Conciliazione.
A seemingly never-ending crowd of pilgrims, mourners, faithful and curious alike, estimated at 600,000, stood patiently in line, sometimes for four or five hours, as they waited for their chance to file past the body of Pope John Paul II as he lay in state in the basilica of St Peter's.
Mgr Marini said that he had "been told" that the late Pope had expressed a wish to be buried in the crypt under St Peter's. He went on to confirm that the Pope will be buried in the traditional, triple-layered sealed coffin of cypress wood, zinc and oak, weighing an estimated 406kg (64 stone).
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals and one of the late Pope's most trusted collaborators, will preside at the funeral Mass.
Although, for the most part, the ceremony will follow the lines of a convention funeral Mass, some uniquely Vatican rituals will still be observed. For example, the Swiss Guards will kneel for the consecration of the host, dipping their halberds with their right hand and saluting with their left.
The service itself, much of it in Latin and accompanied by Gregorian chant, will end with the Pope's coffin being carried into the basilica from the steps by pallbearers clad in black.
Only a few senior Vatican figures, including Cardinal Ratzinger, will be able to follow the coffin as it moves through the basilica and then passes through the "door of death", to the left side of the main altar, and on down to the crypt.
Mgr Marini also said yesterday that the Pope's face will be covered with white silk, while a small bag of medallions, his papal mitre, as well as a rogito or funeral oration read in the crypt and then sealed in a lead tube will all be placed in the coffin with him.
Further details of the funeral may emerge today if and when the Congregation of Cardinals opens and reads John Paul II's testamento or will. The testamento may contain some specific requests left by the late Pope while it could, intriguingly, reveal the name of the cardinal appointed in pectore (close to my breast or without being named) at Pope John Paul's last consistory in 2003.
A cardinal is usually appointed in pectore or anonymously if the Pope feels that naming him could expose him to harassment or political repression. If the Pope has named the in pectore cardinal in his will, then he would be able to attend the conclave, bringing the number of elector cardinals to 118 (providing he is under 80 years of age). If the Pope has not named him, then the nomination is effectively null and void.
Senior Vatican spokesman Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls confirmed yesterday that the will may be read today, adding that yesterday's congregation was attended by 88 of the 91 cardinals present in Rome.
Perhaps because they are waiting for all the other cardinals to arrive, yesterday's meeting took no decision about the date of the conclave to elect the successor to Pope John Paul.