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CNN Live Today
Funeral for Pope John Paul II Held
Aired April 08, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
It's being described as one of the largest religious gatherings of modern time. Tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square to witness the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Security was extremely tight at the ceremony. We're just getting word from Italian news agencies that two Italian fighter jets intercepted a plane heading to Rome's airport a few hours after the funeral.
In just a moment we'll go live to Rome for more.
Here in the U.S., the Pentagon is preparing new service medals for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq. President Bush has already given his OK. Former rules on eligibility must still be drafted. But more than one million veterans could eventually be honored with the new medals.
In the Jessica Lunsford case, court documents say it's possible that the 9-year-old girl might have been alive when officers visited the home where the suspect lived. Police say that suspect John Couey told them he was hiding in the house when police came by a second time. Based on the timeline provided by Couey, authorities now speculate the little girl may have been alive and in the house while police were there. Her body was later found buried in the yard.
And in the Atlanta courthouse shootings, a preliminary report by the sheriff's department cites critical security lapses on the day of the killings. In particular, it found the gunman gained access to Judge Rowland Barnes courtroom through an open doorway that should have been locked.
Good morning. It's just past 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, just past 8:00 a.m. for those of you in the West. From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.
He was among the most influential and admired men of the 20th century, demonstrated by applause and cheers of "Santo, Santo." That is the Italian word for "saint."
The funeral mass for Pope John Paul II is believed to be the most widely watched in human history. A hundred thousand mourners crowded St. Peter's Square. Perhaps a million or more spilled on to the streets of Rome. Worldwide, a potential audience of well over a billion people. The 2.5 hour mass was celebrated by the dean of the cardinals who stood over John Paul's unadorned wooden coffin. More than 600 priests fanned out across the square giving communion to mourners.
President Bush today became the first sitting American head of state to attend a papal funeral. He and Mrs. Bush were accompanied to the Vatican by the president's father and former President Clinton. Mr. Bush was among some 80 or so presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens in attendance.
Let's start our coverage this hour of this historic day at the Vatican with CNN's Aaron Brown.
Aaron, hello.
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
In many ways, I think while we talk about the presidents and the kings and the prime ministers, this last week here in Rome has been about ordinary people who have made an extraordinary journey to this city to say goodbye to Pope John Paul. In the square now, a few stragglers remain, a few hundred people taking a last picture, saying a last prayer, a last thought.
Across the city, we saw tens of thousands of people. I don't think I have ever seen so many Polish flags in my life. A lot of people came from Poland to honor someone they consider their pope.
We say often -- it's a cliche, almost -- that funerals are for the living. It is, nevertheless, true. So for the thousands who were in the square, the millions who in this city stopped whatever it was they would normally do on a Friday to watch, and the literally tens and tens of millions of people around the world, today the end of a long week here in Rome. It was time to say goodbye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Brothers and sisters, present here in St. Peter's Square is the very spirit of Christ in the ways of silver, in the roads of Rome, especially in this huge crowd which is silent and in prayer.
From the moment he was a young student, John Paul, Karol Wojtyla, was a great lover of literature and poetry. Working in a chemical factory surrounded by the Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the lord saying, "Follow me."
In 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla heeded once again the voice of the lord. He renewed his dialogue with Peter, and as it says in the gospel, "Dost thousand love me, Simon, son of Peter? In that case, feed my flock." The archbishop of Krakow asks him the same question in the name of Christ, and Karol Wojtyla replies in exactly the same way as Simon, son of Peter.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The life of Christ was the dominant feature of our beloved Holy Father. And he who has seen him pray and preach knows that full well. And it is his thanks to being profoundly entrenched in Christ we can be sure that our beloved pope is now at the window of the house of his father, and he sees us, and he blesses us.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is looking at us and blessing us.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For him, with him and in him, in the unity of the holy spirit, let us in the spirit of the resurrected Christ give each other a sign of peace.
The lamb of god, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christ has risen from the dead, destroying death by death and to those in the tombs he has given life.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: It was in the end a fascinating mix of old and new. You had just one moment, the entrance of the College of the Cardinals, the princes of the church, the last absolute monarchy in the world, and then you had the youthful exuberance of the congregants celebrating this moment.
The church has had an extraordinary amount of attention for the last week. And if church officials allow themselves to think this way on a day like today, I suspect they cannot have imagined a better way to say farewell to an important and powerful leader of their flock -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And many of those pilgrims, Aaron, were saying goodbye as they saw the coffin holding Pope John Paul II go inside the basilica. We have some new photos that are just coming into us that show what they did with the coffin.
The pope was very specific, not about where he wanted to be buried in terms of a country or a place, but he was very specific that he wanted to be buried in the ground. In the margin of the first page of his will, he wrote, "Burial in the bare earth and not in a tomb."
And there you see the coffin being placed in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica -- Aaron.
BROWN: And it's being placed in the space that was once occupied by the body of Pope John -- Pope Paul XXIII -- Pope John XXIII, I apologize, who had been brought, whose who's body had been brought up a couple of years back.
The pope by not saying specifically where he wanted to be buried did two things. In fact, it guaranteed that the -- that he would be buried here in Rome and not in Poland. Poles are not altogether happy about that, but I think they will accept comfortably in the end the pope's wishes.
And so that's where he will stay, unless or until he is sainted. That could happen. It could happen in five years. It might happen in less than that, in which case they would bring his body back up -- or at least this is the church tradition.
KAGAN: And as you heard the chants today, "Santo, Santo." Many calls already for this pope to be made a saint.
Aaron Brown from Vatican City. Aaron, thank you.
And we're going to continue to bring you scenes from the pope's funeral throughout the day. CNN will replay the entire papal funeral on prime time tonight. Reflections from Anderson Cooper, Paul Zahn, Larry King, and Aaron Brown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: This just in, something that affects your daily life, the kind of thing that just kind of ticks people off. The Postal Service filing a request on Friday they want to increase the cost of stamps. They are asking for a two-cent increase. It would take effect early next year.
Now, there is one catch here. The agency saying it's looking for this increase on first class mail because there is this requirement that it establish a $3.1 billion escrow fund. The Postal Service has gone to Congress, asking that it not have to establish that fund. If it does get a pass on that, it says that it will withdraw the request to make first class stamps even more expensive.
Other news today. The pope's funeral is taking up much of the news. Let's see what else is happening around the world.
The U.S. military says a U.S. Marine died Wednesday in a vehicle accident during combat operations in Falluja. No further details were provided. To date, there have been 1,544 U.S. fatalities in Iraq.
Egyptian authorities say an American and a French tourist were killed by an explosion yesterday in a tourist area of Cairo. At least 18 others were injured, including three Americans. Police suspect a bomb was thrown from a passing motorcycle, but the cause officially is still under investigation. More troubling health news in Monaco's royal family. Just two days after Prince Rainier died at the age of 81, palace officials have revealed that Princess Caroline's husband is severely ill.
Prince Ernst August of Hanover was admitted to the hospital Tuesday with pancreatic problems. A royal spokesman says he is listed in serious condition.
And at the Vatican, Prince Charles once among the hundreds of dignitaries on hand for today's papal funeral. Originally, this was supposed to be the prince's wedding date to Camilla Parker Bowles. Instead, the nuptials were postponed until tomorrow so he could attend the funeral.
CNN's live coverage of the royal wedding of Charles and Camilla begins at 6:00 Eastern tomorrow morning. Anderson Cooper will anchor from London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Mother Nature has been busy. How is the weekend shaping up? Orelon Sidney is here with that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Also, more coverage of the papal funeral coming up. We're going to take a look at Pope John Paul II through the eyes of the man who photographed his public and his private moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 8, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."
It's being described as one of the largest religious gatherings of modern time. Tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square to witness the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Security was extremely tight at the ceremony. We're just getting word from Italian news agencies that two Italian fighter jets intercepted a plane heading to Rome's airport a few hours after the funeral.
In just a moment we'll go live to Rome for more.
Here in the U.S., the Pentagon is preparing new service medals for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq. President Bush has already given his OK. Former rules on eligibility must still be drafted. But more than one million veterans could eventually be honored with the new medals.
In the Jessica Lunsford case, court documents say it's possible that the 9-year-old girl might have been alive when officers visited the home where the suspect lived. Police say that suspect John Couey told them he was hiding in the house when police came by a second time. Based on the timeline provided by Couey, authorities now speculate the little girl may have been alive and in the house while police were there. Her body was later found buried in the yard.
And in the Atlanta courthouse shootings, a preliminary report by the sheriff's department cites critical security lapses on the day of the killings. In particular, it found the gunman gained access to Judge Rowland Barnes courtroom through an open doorway that should have been locked.
Good morning. It's just past 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, just past 8:00 a.m. for those of you in the West. From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.
He was among the most influential and admired men of the 20th century, demonstrated by applause and cheers of "Santo, Santo." That is the Italian word for "saint."
The funeral mass for Pope John Paul II is believed to be the most widely watched in human history. A hundred thousand mourners crowded St. Peter's Square. Perhaps a million or more spilled on to the streets of Rome. Worldwide, a potential audience of well over a billion people. The 2.5 hour mass was celebrated by the dean of the cardinals who stood over John Paul's unadorned wooden coffin. More than 600 priests fanned out across the square giving communion to mourners.
President Bush today became the first sitting American head of state to attend a papal funeral. He and Mrs. Bush were accompanied to the Vatican by the president's father and former President Clinton. Mr. Bush was among some 80 or so presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens in attendance.
Let's start our coverage this hour of this historic day at the Vatican with CNN's Aaron Brown.
Aaron, hello.
AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.
In many ways, I think while we talk about the presidents and the kings and the prime ministers, this last week here in Rome has been about ordinary people who have made an extraordinary journey to this city to say goodbye to Pope John Paul. In the square now, a few stragglers remain, a few hundred people taking a last picture, saying a last prayer, a last thought.
Across the city, we saw tens of thousands of people. I don't think I have ever seen so many Polish flags in my life. A lot of people came from Poland to honor someone they consider their pope.
We say often -- it's a cliche, almost -- that funerals are for the living. It is, nevertheless, true. So for the thousands who were in the square, the millions who in this city stopped whatever it was they would normally do on a Friday to watch, and the literally tens and tens of millions of people around the world, today the end of a long week here in Rome. It was time to say goodbye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Brothers and sisters, present here in St. Peter's Square is the very spirit of Christ in the ways of silver, in the roads of Rome, especially in this huge crowd which is silent and in prayer.
From the moment he was a young student, John Paul, Karol Wojtyla, was a great lover of literature and poetry. Working in a chemical factory surrounded by the Nazi terror, he heard the voice of the lord saying, "Follow me."
In 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla heeded once again the voice of the lord. He renewed his dialogue with Peter, and as it says in the gospel, "Dost thousand love me, Simon, son of Peter? In that case, feed my flock." The archbishop of Krakow asks him the same question in the name of Christ, and Karol Wojtyla replies in exactly the same way as Simon, son of Peter.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The life of Christ was the dominant feature of our beloved Holy Father. And he who has seen him pray and preach knows that full well. And it is his thanks to being profoundly entrenched in Christ we can be sure that our beloved pope is now at the window of the house of his father, and he sees us, and he blesses us.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is looking at us and blessing us.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For him, with him and in him, in the unity of the holy spirit, let us in the spirit of the resurrected Christ give each other a sign of peace.
The lamb of god, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christ has risen from the dead, destroying death by death and to those in the tombs he has given life.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: It was in the end a fascinating mix of old and new. You had just one moment, the entrance of the College of the Cardinals, the princes of the church, the last absolute monarchy in the world, and then you had the youthful exuberance of the congregants celebrating this moment.
The church has had an extraordinary amount of attention for the last week. And if church officials allow themselves to think this way on a day like today, I suspect they cannot have imagined a better way to say farewell to an important and powerful leader of their flock -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And many of those pilgrims, Aaron, were saying goodbye as they saw the coffin holding Pope John Paul II go inside the basilica. We have some new photos that are just coming into us that show what they did with the coffin.
The pope was very specific, not about where he wanted to be buried in terms of a country or a place, but he was very specific that he wanted to be buried in the ground. In the margin of the first page of his will, he wrote, "Burial in the bare earth and not in a tomb."
And there you see the coffin being placed in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica -- Aaron.
BROWN: And it's being placed in the space that was once occupied by the body of Pope John -- Pope Paul XXIII -- Pope John XXIII, I apologize, who had been brought, whose who's body had been brought up a couple of years back.
The pope by not saying specifically where he wanted to be buried did two things. In fact, it guaranteed that the -- that he would be buried here in Rome and not in Poland. Poles are not altogether happy about that, but I think they will accept comfortably in the end the pope's wishes.
And so that's where he will stay, unless or until he is sainted. That could happen. It could happen in five years. It might happen in less than that, in which case they would bring his body back up -- or at least this is the church tradition.
KAGAN: And as you heard the chants today, "Santo, Santo." Many calls already for this pope to be made a saint.
Aaron Brown from Vatican City. Aaron, thank you.
And we're going to continue to bring you scenes from the pope's funeral throughout the day. CNN will replay the entire papal funeral on prime time tonight. Reflections from Anderson Cooper, Paul Zahn, Larry King, and Aaron Brown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: This just in, something that affects your daily life, the kind of thing that just kind of ticks people off. The Postal Service filing a request on Friday they want to increase the cost of stamps. They are asking for a two-cent increase. It would take effect early next year.
Now, there is one catch here. The agency saying it's looking for this increase on first class mail because there is this requirement that it establish a $3.1 billion escrow fund. The Postal Service has gone to Congress, asking that it not have to establish that fund. If it does get a pass on that, it says that it will withdraw the request to make first class stamps even more expensive.
Other news today. The pope's funeral is taking up much of the news. Let's see what else is happening around the world.
The U.S. military says a U.S. Marine died Wednesday in a vehicle accident during combat operations in Falluja. No further details were provided. To date, there have been 1,544 U.S. fatalities in Iraq.
Egyptian authorities say an American and a French tourist were killed by an explosion yesterday in a tourist area of Cairo. At least 18 others were injured, including three Americans. Police suspect a bomb was thrown from a passing motorcycle, but the cause officially is still under investigation. More troubling health news in Monaco's royal family. Just two days after Prince Rainier died at the age of 81, palace officials have revealed that Princess Caroline's husband is severely ill.
Prince Ernst August of Hanover was admitted to the hospital Tuesday with pancreatic problems. A royal spokesman says he is listed in serious condition.
And at the Vatican, Prince Charles once among the hundreds of dignitaries on hand for today's papal funeral. Originally, this was supposed to be the prince's wedding date to Camilla Parker Bowles. Instead, the nuptials were postponed until tomorrow so he could attend the funeral.
CNN's live coverage of the royal wedding of Charles and Camilla begins at 6:00 Eastern tomorrow morning. Anderson Cooper will anchor from London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Mother Nature has been busy. How is the weekend shaping up? Orelon Sidney is here with that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Also, more coverage of the papal funeral coming up. We're going to take a look at Pope John Paul II through the eyes of the man who photographed his public and his private moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
