Hundreds queue at dawn to see Pope's tomb

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2005

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Bringing messages, pictures and their national flags, hundreds of pilgrims from the world over were allowed for the first time Wednesday to pay their last respects at the tomb of Pope John Paul II.

"I want to pray at the tomb of the Holy Father," said Father Leszek of the pope's native Poland, as he stood in line with several hundred before dawn. "It is very hard to apply his teachings in our lives, so I want to beg him for help."

John Paul II was buried Friday in the crypt under Saint Peter's basilica.

Vatican officials agreed to wait until Wednesday to open the crypt upon request of the Italian authorities who feared that the hundreds of thousands in Rome for his funeral would remain in the city to visit the tomb.

Some stayed...