Thousands join in final prayer

Lyndsay Freer

It was wonderful to be in St Peter's Square when the Pope died - such a privileged experience, almost beyond any other experience I have ever had.

The crowds had been streaming in to the square in their thousands to hold a prayer vigil.

There was an eerie silence the two previous nights, but this time it was jam-packed - probably 200,000 people. A choir was on the steps of St Peter's, cardinals and bishops came out, family groups, little children, babies, and lots of people with candles were present. There was also a huge contingent of young people, who had come in from all over Europe. They were holding a vigil of their own, chanting the Italian equivalent of "John Paul II, we love you", that sort of thing.

It was an amazing thing to be part of, to experience the huge amount of love and respect that these people have for the Pope.

I looked at the faces of those around me and there were tears streaming down their faces. Old men, young men were crying silently as they prayed the rosary. I also found myself crying. As Catholics in New Zealand, we are in one of the outposts of the Church and here I was at the rock of Peter experiencing this.

At about 10pm, we were asked to pray silently for the Pope. Within a minute or two, one of the cardinals made the announcement that the Holy Father had died while we were praying silently.

Then, spontaneously the clapping began. It was really a gigantic wave of applause, an outpouring of love and support. His suffering is over. He has gone to eternal life. It was a feeling of relief and joy that we were all there as a part of the journey.

We were told afterwards that Pope John Paul had been conscious when he died, that he heard the crowds outside his window in solidarity with him.

I had decided to come on holiday to Rome to be here for Holy Week and I decided to stay on when it became clear the Pope was dying.

Now I have to make a decision - do I return home tomorrow as planned or do I stay longer? I find myself wanting to stay longer.