Rome really feels like the center of the planet this week. With 2 million people expected including 200 dignitaries/heads of state and news services from all over the world already here, it seems like everyone has this city on their mind. It is impossible to avoid the excitement and crowds. Even in the far east of Rome where I live, the Termini train station near my apartment is open all night emptying people into the city.
The true immensity of the amount of mourners is only evident near the Vatican though. On Tuesday evening around 11pm I joined the line to pay final respects to Pope John Paul II. The beginning of the line was at the Tiber River near Castel San Angelo. I had no idea what the next twelve hours would have in store for me. Packed body to body, weaving down the streets of the Vatican, tens (hundreds????) of thousands of people stood in the line. I felt like a herd of cattle in some massive, slow moving cattle drive. Between 11 and 2 we moved although slowly down Borgo Pio. Then the line came to a grinding halt.
Between 2 and 5 am we moved 10 feet. The night had also begun to get colder and legs started to cramp. Groups tried to sit down but there was no room. Trash and empty bottles sometimes ankle deep littered the ground and the port-a-potties were awful. People in line began to fall and medics had to push through the crowd to get to them. In the homes lining the streets people opened their window crossing themselves and saying "Madre Mia" as the size of the crowd staggered them. Some people began to sing, others to chant "Giovanni Paolo." Thunderous applause would sound every time we took a step forward. At one point, we passed a RAI building where they had set up TVs to let us see the inside of the Basilica. This thrilled us as it reminded us there was an end to this line.
I tried to bond with the people around me. They were from all different countries but Italy and Poland were most highly represented. School groups, families, friends, nuns, and priests, we all stood together trying to persevere and keep our heads up through the night. Our pilgrimage had become a test of endurance.
At 5 am the line began to move forward ever so slightly. About once every 5 minutes we took 5 steps forward. As the sun began to rise we had made our way down Via Corridori and were prepared to turn onto Via Concilazione when we were met with a wall of police officers. They had their arms stretched out and were yelling "piana, piana" "calm down." They were only letting a small portion of the crowd through every 10 minutes. When it was our time we moved quickly turning onto Concilazione, thrilled to be able to actually move again but we were greeted with another massive line spanning all the way to the mist enshrouded St. Peters. The Basilica became like a heavenly object for us, our paradise at the end of our ordeal.
The line to St. Peters moved slowly. We reached the center of the Piazza at around 9:00 am as the mist cleared around the Basilica. In this open area we were able to grasp how massive the crowd was, how the line stretched beyond our field of vision. We weaved our way from the obelisk, which was covered in memorial objects for the Pope, to the steps, then walked up through the center doors of the Basilica. I had made it. The walk through the Basilica was very solemn. John Paul II lay in state peacefully, surrounded by archbishops, cardinals, and Swiss guards.
Why had so many stood so long in difficult conditions to see one man? The most common answer was that they believed John Paul II would do it for them. He had traveled all over the world often sick and in pain. During each of his 150 visits to 116 countries he shared his belief that every individual on the planet has enormous value and that he genuinely cared about every human being. He did not seal himself up in the Vatican, he came to the world and now the world had to come to him.
More than any other contemporary, the Pope showed what it means to be a leader. His leadership was not displayed through aggressive statements or acts but through peaceful addresses and inspiration. In a world where the ability to influence is often based on how many people could be killed by a nation's weapons of mass destruction, the Pope's ability to influence came through how many people he could inspire.
Besides the doctrine he taught are the universal virtues that he stressed. When people think of John Paul II, the characteristics of compassion, courage, forgiveness, peace, and hope should come to mind, characteristics that should be far more evident in the world today. As a wave of religious and political turmoil has gripped many nations these are the characteristics that should be encouraged. Throughout his life the Pope stood unwaveringly for them in society. While living by them, he undertook the most impressive of humanitarian missions and showed that humanitarian motives are things that people should hold in the highest regard. Most importantly Pope John Paul II helped people have faith that love truly has the greatest power in the world. With love, no obstacle is insurmountable, no problem is impossible. For these reasons Karol Jozef Wojtyla, John Paul II, can truly be called The Great.
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