Cardinals Set Date For Conclave

The College of Cardinals on Wednesday set April 18 as the date for the start of its historic secret vote in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the late Pope John Paul II did not release the name of the cardinal he secretly appointed. He said the cardinals read John Paul's 15-page testament, written in Polish at different stages of his pontificate, and would release the text on Thursday.

The cardinals who will elect his successor resumed meetings Wednesday to make the final arrangements for his entombment as pilgrims poured into Rome to witness the funeral pageantry.

The reading of John Paul's last writings, is unlikely to influence the choice of the 117 cardinals who will cast ballots later this month for the next head of the 1 billion-strong church.

In a major change to a centuries-old practice, the Vatican said it plans to ring bells in addition to sending up white smoke when the time comes to announce that a new pope has been chosen.

Black smoke coming from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signals no decision has been made after a papal ballot, while white smoke means a pope has been elected.

In the past, it has sometimes been hard to tell whether the smoke from the Vatican chimney was white or black. "This time we plan to ring the bells to make the election of the pope clearer," Archbishop Piero Marini said Tuesday.

In another change from past papal elections, cardinals voting in the conclave will have access to all of Vatican City during the election, as opposed to being sequestered in the Sistine Chapel, Marini said.

More cardinals have arrived in Rome but Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said after Tuesday's pre-conclave meeting they had not decided on a date for the conclave at which they elect a pope, which according to church law must occur between 15 and 20 days after the pontiff's death.

There is a lot of speculation on the candidates for pope - including the possibility that the next leader of the Church might be from Latin America or Africa - and that has the cardinals' each and every word monitored carefully by Vatican watchers.

At least one of the cardinals admits to feeling the pressure of this assignment.

"It's a little scary," said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., referring to the responsibility of choosing a new pope. "It's awesome I guess."

John Paul II appointed all but two of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote, making it likely his conservative views will continue into the next papacy.

Mourners are streaming past John Paul's crimson-robed remains at the rate of 600,000 a day in an almost round-the-clock procession through St. Peter's Basilica, city authorities said. The crush of pilgrims on the road leading to the Vatican will rise sharply when an expected two million Poles arrive in Rome for Friday's funeral of the Polish-born pontiff.

Some have already arrived.

"I am from Poland, from Warsaw," said one pilgrim early Monday, in the crowd of mourners gathered outside St. Peter's Basilica, hoping for a glimpse of the late pontiff. "I came to Rome yesterday at 9 o'clock. I have been walking for ten hours."

The length of the line is of no importance, explained another Polish visitor waiting outside in Vatican City.

""We have to see our Papa," said a determined Iza Tyra. "We have to say him goodbye."

Pilgrims stood in a line over a mile long for 12 hours in chilly pre-dawn temperatures Wednesday, waiting their turn to file into the church.

Italy is calling in extra police to the capital and will seal off much of the Eternal City on Friday to protect a VIP contingent that will include U.S. President Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the presidents of Syria and Iran, among other heads of state.

John Paul, who died Saturday at 84, made his wish known "to be buried in the ground," said Marini, a longtime close aide as papal master of ceremonies.

Marini said John Paul will be buried with a white silk veil on his face, his body clad in liturgical vestments and the white miter. Keeping with tradition, his remains will be placed inside three coffins - wood, zinc and wood - a design meant to slow down the decomposition process.

A small bag of commemorative medals issued over the course of his 26-year pontificate, as well as a sealed document featuring a brief description in Latin of John Paul's life, will be buried with him, Marini said.

He said Polish wishes will go unfulfilled that soil from the pope's native country would be placed in the coffin.

In other developments, John Paul's personal physician was quoted as telling La Repubblica newspaper that John Paul "passed away slowly, with pain and suffering which he endured with great human dignity."

"The Holy Father could not utter a single word before passing away," Dr. Renato Buzzonetti was quoted as saying. "Just as happened in the last days he could not speak, he was forced to silence."

As the cardinals met, buses unloaded huge groups of students, pilgrims and clergy who joined the long line along the wide avenue leading to St. Peter's Square and through the streets of the neighborhood that surrounds the Vatican.

Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali, who spent years working at the Vatican and was in St. Peter's Square for three other papal funerals, called the outpouring for John Paul II the most dramatic he has witnessed.

"This is the fourth funeral for a pope that I personally participated in. I think this exceeds everything," he said. "This is the most extraordinary thing that ever happened."