Twenty years ago, on April 8, 2005, the funeral of Pope John Paul II brought together more than a million people in Rome, including 200 international leaders. The event demonstrated the spiritual and political influence of the Polish pontiff, who had passed away just days earlier. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then dean of the Sacred College, made an impression with a homily that made him, probably in spite of himself, the natural successor of John Paul II.
The funeral of Pope John Paul II was a historical and international event with both spiritual and political impact.
A powerful homily
John Paul II “really went everywhere, untiringly, in order to bear fruit, fruit that lasts,” explained Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in his homily. The crowd, which included many pilgrims from Poland, interrupted him many times with applause.
“He roused us from a lethargic faith, from the sleep of the disciples of both yesterday and today. ‘Rise, let us be on our way!’ he continues to say to us even today,” said the German theologian.
“The Pope suffered and loved in communion with Christ, and that is why the message of his suffering and his silence proved so eloquent and so fruitful,” said the cardinal at the end of his homily.
He was alluding to the painful blessing given by John Paul II a few days earlier, on Easter Sunday, when he was unable to speak.
“We can be sure that our beloved Pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that he sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother,” concluded the future Pope Benedict XVI, to applause.
“Santo subito”
The liturgy was said in Latin. The wind swept across the stage, turning the pages of the book of Holy Scriptures placed on the simple coffin on the ground. “It was an incredible image. We really saw the breath of the Holy Spirit there,” recalls one participant.
This final goodbye of St. John Paul II was broadcast worldwide at every stage, with the exception of the pontiff's burial, which was held in private in the Vatican crypt. Almost 6,000 concelebrants in total, including 140 cardinals and 700 bishops and archbishops, took part in the Mass.
The ceremony was marked by the cries of the crowd shouting “Santo subito”—“May he be a saint right away.”
Wojtek Laski/East News
Cardinal Ratzinger remained impassive in the face of this popular pressure. However, once elected pope under the name of Benedict XVI, he opened the beatification process of his predecessor a few weeks later. Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed John Paul II blessed on May 1, 2011, and Pope Francis canonized him together with John XXIII three years later.
An international summit of historic significance
The funeral of John Paul II was also a political event. Numerous heads of state were present, including the French president Jacques Chirac, the Polish president Alexander Kwasniewski and his predecessor Lech Walesa, and the American president George W. Bush, accompanied by his predecessors Bill Clinton and George Bush senior. Jimmy Carter, who had received John Paul II at the White House in 1980, was unable to attend due to a lack of seats allocated to the United States in the protocol.
More surprising was the presence of leaders from countries that had never been visited by the Pope. Such was the case of Algeria with Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Afghanistan with Hamid Karzai. The latter's presence was all the more surprising given that this country had no official Catholic presence and had never established diplomatic relations with the Holy See. On the other hand, the People's Republic of China did not send a representative.
Among the leaders present at the time were some who are still (or once again) in office 20 years later. The include the Brazilian Lula, the Azerbaijani Ilham Aliev, the Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Hungarian Viktor Orban (then attending as a former prime minister), King Abdullah II of Jordan and his wife Queen Rania, the sovereigns of Sweden, of Norway, of Lesotho, and of Luxembourg, and the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri.
The main notable absentee among the top international leaders was Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had met John Paul II twice at the Vatican in 2000 and 2003, and was represented by his Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.
Controversial presences
The presence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who had received John Paul II in Damascus in 2001, was controversial. The Syrian regime was then in the crosshairs of the international community after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005, in Beirut.
Another controversial presence was that of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. He was banned from entering the European Union at the time, due to his regime's atrocities against the white minority. However, he was able to travel to the Vatican and benefit from an Italian escort by virtue of the Holy See's neutral status.
His handshake with Prince Charles caused a scandal in the United Kingdom, in a context of strong media pressure on the crown prince. In order to represent the British Crown at the funeral of the head of the Catholic Church, the future king of England had to postpone his wedding to Camilla by 24 hours.
Another unusual dialogue took place at the funeral of John Paul II, giving rise to brief hopes of diplomatic rapprochement: that between the Israeli president at the time, Moshe Katsav, and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Khatami.
The leader of the Hebrew state, who was born in Iran, said that he was able to speak to his neighbor in Persian, as the heads of state were arranged on the square according to the alphabetical order of the countries. During the Mass, the moment of the peace of Christ bringing together a Jewish leader and a Shiite Muslim leader was one of the astonishing images of this particular day in the history of Rome and the world.
