pope john paul II was laid to rest today in rome. my sleep schedule has been quite off and thus i was awake near 4 am when the live broadcast of the funeral mass began. i only managed to stay awake through the first hour or so. but truly it was quite a wondrous event. the death, life, and the funeral mass of the late pope have so many lessons for us. it was spectacular to hear the thunderous applause of the crowds celebrating the life of the pope. it may seem incongruous with a funeral, but somehow the reverent applause seemed appropriate for such a man. as my mom said: why should we be sad; he was good and is going to meet his lord and the poor man won't have to watch all the pain and evil in the world.
st. peter's square was filled with pilgrims, over 2 million people descended upon rome for this event. nearly 1 million of these were poles. it was said that half of krakow was there. polish flags could be seen waving everywhere. but this pope was the pope of many peoples, having traveled so widely. people from every continent attended. additionally, many non-catholics attended as well. i didn't actually expect to see so many muslim leaders in attendance. i was pleasantly surprised. kings, queens, and heads of state from all over the world were in attendance. but faces that i didn't expect included president khatami from iran, president bashar al-assad of syria, and prime minister erdogan from turkey. a lot of other arab and asian countries sent representatives. i recognized prime minister rajapakse from sri lanka and few other faces. due to the french alphabetical seating the bushes were next to the chiracs (Etats-Unis d'Amérique, France). it was interesting to watch khatami and afghanistan's hamid karzai hobnob with (or at least greet) the israeli delegation. in addition to heads of state there were many religious leaders of almost every christian denomination. very impressively, many leaders of the eastern rite were in attendance including the ecumenical patriarch of constantinople (bartholomew II) and the greek orthodox archbishop christodoulos. (these people have pretty cool websites!). i was impressed by albania, who as their religious delegation sent selim muca of the (sunni) muslim community, rrok mirdita, the catholic archbishop, haxhi dede reshat bardhi of the (shi'ite) bektashi muslim sect and orthodox archbishop anastasios. now that is one diverse (and might i say awesomely dressed) delegation.
some notable absences include the patriarch of moscow, jimmy carter, and any reps from china. patriarch alexiy II of moscow was not in attendance. though constantinople is assumed as the historical center of the eastern rite, the real power lies in moscow. the patriarch did not like the pope and repeatedly refused to meet him. but he did send the head of external relations for the moscow patriarchate.
rumors swirl around carter's absence, since he was the first us president to invite the pope to the white house. some say the bush administration snubbed him due to his criticism of them, others say he was invited and declined to go. though he commented that the us delegation was a strong one (w, his daddy, laura, clinton, and condi).
lastly, china refused to send anyone because the vatican granted the taiwanese president chen shui-bian a visa to attend. anyway you can check out the complete list of attendees.
take some time and read the pope's last will and testament. such men who affect the world (both positively and negatively) don't come around very often. also the homily by german cardinal joseph ratzinger is worthy of reading. in these last documents and the comments by pope and his biographers one idea continues to surface. he urged against the virulent materialism and consumerism that is enveloping us. he urged us to look towards spirituality and to stand firm against cruelty. being lost in this world and forgetting the weak around us he warned us against. as he himself began, he urged us to allow ourselves to be completely in His hands.
(sidenotes: i apologize for the lack of posting. school is whooping me. i have 30 odds days till graduation. my symposium went off without a hitch (okay without any big ones). the days are too pretty to spend inside at a computer. this look is temporary, working on something new. looks like chapati mystery has become group blog, and natasha is crying. lala is looking murderous and all the while being elected to positions of authority (scary!). i have a penchant for roaming, i have been locked in c-bus too long. i will be hitting up different cities shortly (as soon as i get pesky exams out of the way). lululee has turned into a lizard (it was bound to happen when the clock struck midnight) and the azman's drug supply has run dry and thus he had decided to become a librarian. my room is a mess, my life is a mess, and generally things are back to normal. ooh plus it is sandal season! just a word of advice, if you ever have to fill out a sf86 form, never lose it.)
