Thousands of pilgrims flock to Pope's tomb

Some prayed for miracles, others just said goodbye. Thousands of Catholic pilgrims flocked to Pope John Paul II's tomb yesterday after the Vatican opened it to the public for the first time.

Laid out before the simple white gravestone were offertory baskets filled with handwritten prayers and messages for the Polish Pontiff, who was buried in the crypts beneath St Peter's Basilica last Friday after a momentous funeral.

"I'm praying for his intercessions," said Sister Presede, 42, a nun from India waiting in a line that barely reached into St Peter's Square.

"He still has the power to help." Vatican guards moved the faithful along quickly - trying to avoid the mammoth lines that paralysed central Rome last week when the Pope's body was laid in state.

Then the queues exceeded a million people, and at their worst it took a full 24 hours to reach the basilica.

Yesterday, the wait was about 20 minutes with visitors allowed only a second or so in front of the flat marble gravestone before the guards cried out "avanti" - or "move on".

"It's no way to do things," said Guiseppe Mutti, 62, who travelled to Rome from Verona to say farewell to John Paul.

"You could start praying when you reached the tomb. But by the time you finished, you were somewhere else."

Roman Catholic Cardinals, who are due to start a conclave next Monday to elect a new Pope, paid homage at the grave on Tuesday, bowing before the small alcove which used to house the tomb of Pope John XXIII, who died in 1963.

His body was transferred into the basilica itself in 2001. The cardinals have imposed a vow of silence to avoid talking to the media about the election, but Italian newspapers reported yesterday that John Paul's closest aide, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, has gained strong support amongst some peers.

Far removed from the secluded daily meetings of cardinals, a sunny St Peter's Square was packed with tourists and passers-by yesterday, many happy to take advantage of a pre-planned visit to Rome to see John Paul's tomb.

"I'm in town for a conference and thought it was an opportunity to stop by, particularly as I can get in and see it before work starts," said Angela Liotti, from the northern Italian town of Novara.

After winding their way through the so-called Vatican Grottoes, lined with tombs of other pontiffs, pilgrims arrived at John Paul's tomb - engraved with his Latin name "IOANNES PAULUS PPII" and the dates of his 26-year papacy.

Pilgrims in wheelchairs and the elderly, some walking with canes, moved silently past the tomb, occasionally making the sign of the cross before they were hurried along.

Many prayed for loved ones, or said they were looking for closure after the Pontiff's death. Others hoped that by visiting the tomb, they could still communicate with John Paul.