VATICAN CITY -- 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 square as John Paul's simple wooden coffin adorned with a cross and the ''M'' for Mary was brought out from the basilica and placed on the ground in front of the altar. The book of the Gospel was placed on the coffin and the wind lifted the pages.
A choir sang the Gregorian chant ''Grant him Eternal rest o Lord,'' and the service got under way. Cardinals wearing white miters walked onto the square, the wind whipping their red vestments.
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.
''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.''
At the beginning of the Mass, Ratzinger prayed for God to ''grant your servant and our pope, John Paul II, who in the love of Christ led your church, to share with the flock entrusted to him the reward promised to the faithful ministers of the Gospel.''
After the 2 1/2-hour Mass, the body will be carried deep under the basilica, where it will join the remains of popes from throughout the ages near the traditional tomb of the apostle Peter, the first pope.
John Paul requested in his last will and testament to be buried ''in the bare earth,'' and his body will be laid to rest under the floor of the grotto below the basilica. 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.
Earlier, groggy pilgrims who had camped out on the cobblestones awoke in their sleeping bags to hordes of the faithful stepping over them as they tried to secure a good spot to view the Mass.
The square and the boulevard leading to it were a sea of red and white flags waved by pilgrims from John Paul's beloved Poland, many in traditional dress shouting ''Polska! Polska!'' Flags of other countries also fluttered in the square.
''We just wanted to say goodbye to our father for the last time,'' said Joanna Zmijewsla, 24, who traveled for 30 hours with her brother from a town near Kielce, Poland, arriving at St. Peter's at 1 a.m. Friday.
American Archbishop James Harvey, head of papal protocol, greeted dignitaries and religious leaders as they emerged from St. Peter's Basilica onto the steps. Many of the officials shook Harvey's hand and offered condolences before mingling and taking their appointed seats.
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.
''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.
Bells tolled as the final leaders took their places on red-cushioned wooden seats. 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. The Americans sat in the second row, behind Spain.
Vatican ushers dressed in white tie and tails seated dignitaries who were given a chance to view John Paul's body before it was carried out of St. Peter's Basilica -- where it has lain in state since Monday -- and into the square.
Rome itself was at a standstill. Just after midnight Thursday, a ban took effect on vehicle traffic in the city center. Airspace was closed, and anti-aircraft batteries outside the city were on alert. Naval ships patrolled both the Mediterranean coast and the Tiber River near Vatican City, the tiny sovereign city-state encompassed by the Italian capital.
Italian authorities took extraordinary precautions to protect the royalty and heads of state or government attending the funeral. Jewish and Muslim leaders were among the dignitaries from more than 80 countries, including the presidents of Syria and Iran.
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. Most of the pilgrims, however, can only hope to see the ceremony on giant TV screens that have been erected around the Vatican and in piazzas around Rome.
In Krakow, Poland, where John Paul studied for the priesthood, about 300,000 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 funeral began with an intimate ceremony attended only by high-ranking prelates, who placed a pouch of silver and bronze medals and a scrolled account of his life in his coffin.
John Paul's longtime private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, and the master of the liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Piero Marini, placed a white silk veil over the pope's face before the coffin was closed.
The Vatican released John Paul's last will and testament on the eve of the funeral. Penned in Polish over 22 years, beginning five months after his election in October 1978, he gave instructions for his burial and also told his private secretary to burn his personal notes upon his death.
He also suggested he considered resigning in 2000, when his infirmities were already apparent. Revising his will just three days before a historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land, John Paul prayed that God would ''help me to recognize up to what point I must continue this service.''
On Thursday, the huge bronze doors of St. Peter's were closed to the public in preparation for the Mass. In four days, some estimates say nearly 2 million pilgrims passed by his bier to pay their last respects.
Rome groaned under the weight of visitors. Side streets were clogged in a permanent pedestrian rush hour, mostly by kids with backpacks. Tent camps sprang up at the Circus Maximus and elsewhere around the city to take the spillover from hotels. Hawkers jacked up prices of everything from bottled water to papal trinkets.
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