Ancient rituals mark the Pope's passing

VATICAN CITY - Popes may be mortal but they are no ordinary mortals.

Pope John Paul II's funeral and burial tomorrow night will follow an elaborate ritual involving three coffins, one inside the other, and other long-standing traditions.

One ritual is changing.

The Vatican plans to ring bells as well as send up white smoke to announce that a new Pope has been chosen.

Black smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signals no decision by the cardinals has been made after a papal ballot - 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, the Vatican's master of ceremonies, said.

John Paul's last writings could be read within the next few days. Many say they are unlikely to influence the choice of the next pontiff.

But it may reveal the identity of a secret cardinal John Paul II said he had named in 2003 and held "in pectore", or "in the heart".

This is a formula that has been used when the Pope wants to appoint a cardinal in a country where the church is oppressed.

The Pope will be buried under the spot once occupied by the tomb of Pope John XXIII in the crypt beneath St Peter's Basilica.

Pope John, who launched the Second Vatican Council that introduced church reforms, was one of the Roman Catholic Church's most loved Popes of modern times and is still known as the "Good Pope".

Pope John, who died in 1963, was placed in an above-ground marble tomb in the crypt, known as the Vatican Grottoes.

The body was moved in 2001 to a chapel on the altar floor, and the alcove where his tomb had stood remained empty. It is under the floor of that alcove where John Paul will be buried.

After the public viewing ends, John Paul II's body will first be laid in a plain cypress wood coffin.

The Pope's long-time personal secretary will place a white silk veil on his face.

The Pope will wear liturgical vestments and his bishop's hat will be placed on his chest.

A small bag of commemorative medals from his pontificate and a brief summary of his life, sealed in a lead tube, will be put in the coffin.

Thousands of requests to have objects put in the coffin with him have been made.

A special prayer for the repose of the Pope's soul will be read before the first coffin is sealed.

Archbishop Piero said the Pope's body would be placed in the first coffin on Thursday night, ahead of Friday's outdoor funeral, which is due to last about three hours.

The cypress coffin will be placed on the stone steps of St Peter's Basilica during the funeral Mass, then moved inside the building.

There, according to church tradition, it will be placed in a zinc coffin which will be hermetically sealed.

The zinc coffin will in turn be placed in an oak coffin and interred under a marble slab.

* The church's cardinals will begin a conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II on Monday, April 18, the Vatican announced late last night.

- REUTERS