Final Farewell To John Paul II

Presidents, prime ministers and kings joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peter's Square on Friday to bid farewell to Pope John Paul II at a funeral service that drew millions to Rome for one of the largest religious gatherings of modern times.

Applause rang out in the wind-whipped square as John Paul's simple wooden coffin adorned with a cross and an "M" for Mary was brought out from the basilica and placed on the ground in front of the altar for the Mass. Bells tolled and the crowd applauded again when the coffin was presented to them one last time and carried back inside for burial. John Paul was buried at 2:20 p.m. (8:20 a.m. EDT) in the grotto under the basilica, the Vatican said.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, a close confidant of John Paul and a possible successor, referred to him as our "late beloved pope" in a homily that traced the pontiff's life from his days as a factory worker in Nazi-occupied Poland to the last days of his life as the head of the world's 1 billion Catholics.

Interrupted by applause at least 10 times, the usually unflappable German-born Ratzinger choked up as he recalled one of John Paul's last public appearances — when he blessed the faithful from his studio window on Easter.

"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," he said to applause, even among the prelates, as he pointed up to the third-floor window above the square.

The crowd then erupted in a very emotional response.

"It was a powerful image. Powerful because we so associate the pope coming to the window of the apostolic palace and blessing the crowds, something he wanted to do constantly or as much as he could," said CBS News Analyst Father Paul Robichaud.

"Today we bury his remains in the earth as a seed of immortality — our hearts are full of sadness, yet at the same time of joyful hope and profound gratitude," Ratzinger said in heavily accented Italian.

He said John Paul was a "priest to the last" and said he had offered his life for God and his flock "especially amid the sufferings of his final months."

"It was a wonderful juxtaposition between the young Karol Wojtyla and the old, suffering pope in the last years of his life, which Cardinal Ratzinger beautifully paralleled with the reading from John about when you were a young man you go where you wish, but when you become old someone ties a belt around you and takes you where you do not want to go," said Robichaud.

"It's so reflective, the last suffering years of the pope and how he used his physical suffering as a way to teach us what it means to grow old and ultimately to die," he said.

John Paul requested in his last will and testament to be buried "in the bare earth." His tomb will be covered with a flat stone bearing his name and the dates of his birth and death. Pilgrims will eventually be able to visit.

Robichaud notes that the Vatican is going to have problems if the lines are anything like those seen this week because the grotto is entered through a narrow staircase and a long corridor.

And he says he would not be surprised if John Paul -- or part of John Paul's heart -- is not returned to Poland.

American Archbishop James Harvey, head of papal protocol, greeted dignitaries and religious leaders as they emerged from St. Peter's Basilica onto the steps.

Turbans, fezzes, yarmulkes, black lace veils, or mantillas, joined the "zucchettos," or skull caps, of Catholic prelates in an extraordinary mix of religious and government leaders from around the world.

Ten minutes before the scheduled start of the funeral, the U.S. delegation arrived, headed by President Bush, and including his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton.

President Bush sat on the aisle in the second row, next to his wife, Laura. Beside them were French President Jacques Chirac and his wife, Bernadette. The two presidents shook hands.

The pope's death on Saturday at age 84 has elicited a remarkable outpouring of affection around the world and brought an estimated 4 million people to Rome in one of the largest religious gatherings in the West in modern times.

At least 300,000 people filled St. Peter's Square and spilled out onto the wide Via della Conciliazione leading toward the Tiber River, but millions of others watched on giant video screens set up across Rome.

"The thing that's amazed me all week is the fact that Karol Wojtyla has no immediate relatives to speak of. All of us have a connection to him because of that, whether here or watching around the globe," said CBS News Analyst Father Mike Russo.

"I'm here because I'm a believer but also to live a moment in history," said Stephan Aubert, wearing a French flag draped over his shoulders.

In Krakow, Poland, where John Paul studied for the priesthood, about 800,000 people watched the funeral on three TV screens set up in a field. Many had spent the night around bonfires after a Thursday night Mass drew a million people.

Sirens wailed in Warsaw for three minutes to announce the start of the funeral to the Polish capital. Some 25,000 people packed Pilsudski Square where the pope celebrated Mass during his first visit to his homeland as pope, and another 2,000 gathered in the Old Town in front of St. Ann's Church to watch the funeral on huge screens.

The faithful gathered in the Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere to watch the service on television or to pray for John Paul. An overflow crowd of about 7,000 worshippers filled Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.