The life of Pope John Paul II was drawing to a close last night. He lay dying in his apartment above St Peter's Square in Rome where thousands of Christians - Roman Catholic and non-Catholic alike - prayed for his soul, along with millions of others across the world yesterday.
A mid-evening statement from the Vatican said his cardio-respiratory conditions had worsened since the sudden deterioration on Thursday night, brought on by a urinary infection. The statement said the 84-year-old Pope's breathing had become shallow.
Last night, he was reported to have lost consciousness. Amid conflicting reports earlier that he had actually died - hastily denied by the Vatican - one of the church's most senior cardinals, Camillo Ruini, told a special service in Rome that Pope John Paul "already sees and touches the Lord".
"He is already united with our only saviour," said Cardinal Ruini.
The Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, the Pope's former secretary in Rome, said the Pope knew he was dying.
"He realises the great value of Christian suffering. The fact that he has not gone back to hospital [means] that he is serenely carrying the cross and ready to give up and to say, 'It is finished'," said Bishop Magee.
That realisation was apparent to the many pilgrims whose numbers increased in St Peter's Square last night. Many cried as they prayed.
In his native Poland, where John Paul is revered for the role he played in ending communism there and across eastern Europe, people flocked to churches.
From Asia to Africa, across Europe and in the Americas, people waited for the death of one of the longest-serving pontiffs of the modern age, a man who made a major contribution to world politics and spirituality and who reasserted a conservative approach by the Roman Catholic Church on social and sexual issues.
After his surprise election in 1978 (he was the first non-Italian Pope for 455 years), John Paul became the most travelled Pope in history, visiting 130 countries and re-energising the church and its 1.1 billion adherents.
Confirmation that the pontiff's life was fading came from the Vatican's senior spokesman Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls.
"The general conditions and the cardio-respiratory conditions of the Holy Father have further worsened. A gradual worsening of arterial hypo-tension has been noted, and breathing has become shallow. The clinical picture indicates cardio-circulatory and renal insufficiency. The biological parameters are notably compromised. The Holy Father - with visible participation - is joining in the continual prayers of those assisting him", he said in a statement.
As tourists and pilgrims alike gathered in St Peter's Square, a sense of uneasy expectancy hovered in the warm, spring evening. With the area around St Peter's Square closed off to traffic, the Vatican assumed an eerily quiet air with the cadences of the evening dominated by a sense of silent vigil being observed by Romans, pilgrims and tourists alike.
The Vatican statement provided a dramatic end to a dramatic day that had begun with a 6am statement from the Vatican spokesman, indicating that the Pope's condition had worsened through the night. Initial confirmation of the latest crisis in the 84-year-old Pope's rapidly deteriorating condition had emerged late on Thursday night when the Vatican confirmed he was suffering from a high fever, prompted by a urinary tract infection.By evening the overall clinical picture had clearly become much worse, moving from "stationary" to "notably compromised".
Asked why the Pope had declined to return to the Gemelli hospital, Dr Navarro-Valls said that the Pope had given no explanation for his choice.
Many Vatican observers believe, however, that the decision was at least partly prompted by his desire to see out his days in the familiar and appropriate surroundings of the Vatican.