Rome's pilgrims told to stay away from city centre

The Italian authorities last night started to prevent people joining the queue to view the remains of Pope John Paul II

The Italian authorities last night started to prevent people joining the queue to view the remains of Pope John Paul II. And, apparently alarmed at the growing influx to Rome, they urged people not to come to the city centre.

The queue to see the Pope grew to 5km yesterday and today, tens of thousands more are expected to arrive, many hoping to file past the Pope before tomorrow's funeral.

However, Rome's Civil Protection authorities decided that unless they prevented further access to the line of pilgrims to the Basilica of St Peter from 10 o'clock last night, newcomers would not reach the body. The lying in state is due to end at 10pm today and the authorities have revised upwards, to five million, the number they expect in the city for the funeral. Most will be unable to get anywhere near St Peter's Square.

Last night Guido Bertolaso, head of crowd control for the funeral, appealed to pilgrims to avoid the centre of Rome, saying it was saturated and there would be no chance of seeing the funeral.

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Mr Bertolaso said well over a million people had already arrived in Rome, whose normal population is around three million, and he urged visitors to go to a special camp on the city's outskirts.

"The city centre cannot take the arrival of any more faithful," said Mr Bertolaso. He added that anyone arriving last night or today would have "no possibility of following the funeral at St Peter's".

Today, Pope John Paul's last will and testament is expected to be revealed. Written in Polish over a 25-year period, the 15-page document is believed to outline the direction the late Pope wishes the church to take and to underscore his long-held views about the sanctity of human life. Sources said last night there was little reference to the disposal of material possessions.

Meanwhile, it was announced yesterday that the conclave to elect a new Pope would be held on April 18th. This was the most significant decision taken by 116 Cardinals, including 31 newly arrived in Rome, who met in the General Congregation of Cardinals in the Vatican.

The date comes as no surprise since under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis, the 1996 document governing the rules of the conclave as drawn up by Pope John Paul II himself, the conclave to elect his successor must meet no sooner than 15 days and no later than 20 days after his death.

Given that the Pope died on April 2nd, April 18th represents the first available, non-Sunday date.

Announcing the conclave during a Vatican briefing, spokesman Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls divulged almost nothing of the content of the will other than to say that the first entry dates back to 1979, the year after John Paul II's election to office and the year, of course, of his historic visit to Ireland.

Dr Navarro-Valls also explained that the delay in releasing the text of the will was necessary simply so the document could be translated into different languages.

It is believed, although the spokesman did not confirm this, that the will was written by hand. What is certain is that it did not contain the name of a cardinal appointed in pectore, or without being named, at the 2003 consistory. In practice, this means that the name of that in pectore cardinal will never be known and his appointment is now null and void.

Popes occasionally appoint cardinals in pectore if they feel that publishing his name might have a negative impact on either the would-be cardinal or his flock in countries where freedom of worship may not be guaranteed.

The spokesman also revealed that such is the unprecedented pressure from hundreds of thousands of pilgrims wishing to see the body of John Paul II that the cardinals yesterday considered the idea of a cortege that would have taken it across Rome to the Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, after tomorrow's funeral on the steps of St Peter's. But logistical considerations argued against such a decision, said the spokesman.