Pope John Paul II, who in life attracted millions of worshipers and admirers to gatherings around the world, in death received an immense homage Sunday from close to 150,000 pilgrims who gathered for an open-air Requiem in St. Peter's Square.

As soon as Cardinal Angelo Sodano, who presided at the Mass, mentioned the late pope's name, the sea of worshipers applauded loudly. In his written homily, Sodano referred to John Paul as "the Great," an honorific applied only to two of the church's 263 previous pontiffs. "He died with the serenity of the saints," Sodano told the crowd.

Inside a marble-covered hall, John Paul's body lay in state for viewing by cardinals and dignitaries. The ceremony was broadcast to the outside world for the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

The dual events provided an indication of what is fast becoming a mammoth pageant of grief and adulation, arguably without parallel in the church. Rome is preparing to host 2 million or more pilgrims for John Paul's yet unscheduled funeral. Train stations and stadiums are being opened for campers. Hotels in the city are already reporting full occupancy. The pope's body will lie in state at St. Peter's Basilica for viewing by the public beginning Monday afternoon.

The personality of the next pontiff was a topic of growing discussion among cardinals who will convene within the next 19 days to choose John Paul's successor. Some of them said that someone like John Paul was needed.

In St. Peter's Square on Sunday, ardent Catholics mixed with religiously indifferent tourists. Italians mingled with migrant workers who waved flags of their home countries: India, Colombia, Albania, Romania and, in several parts of the square, Poland. Well-off worshipers wearing gold earrings prayed beside maids manipulating plastic rosaries.

The morning after John Paul died in his Vatican apartment at age 84, officials issued the precise cause of death: septic shock, a medical term for severe infection that causes organ failure, and collapse of the cardiovascular system.

Among the underlying causes for his catastrophic decline was Parkinson's disease, the statement said. It was the first time the Vatican has acknowledged that the pope suffered from the disease that outside physicians estimate began to afflict him about 15 years ago

The pope also suffered acute breathing failure, low blood pressure, insufficient blood flow and an enlarged prostate gland. The death certificate said the urinary tract infection that poisoned his blood was a complication of the prostate problem.

The statement said that the Vatican's chamberlain, or camerlengo, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, confirmed the pope's death, as required by church regulations. Martinez Somalo is the interim spiritual leader of the church, though he lacks governing authority.

The pope's body lay atop a bier Sunday in Clementine Hall, a reception room down the hall from the apartment where he died. John Paul was attired in red vestments. A white miter was set on his head, which rested on three golden damask pillows. The pope's familiar long silver pastoral staff was tucked under his left arm. Folded hands held a wooden rosary.

His face showed traces of a death agony. His cheeks were drawn and streaked with deep creases.

Visitors viewed John Paul from a couple of yards in front of his feet. A pair of Swiss Guards dressed in 16th-century orange-and-blue uniforms flanked the bier. Cardinals in white lace doffed scarlet skullcaps as they bowed and kneeled before the body.

Source: Agencies