Pope John Paul II

== Death and funeral ==
{{Main|Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II}}

=== Final months ===
John Paul II was hospitalised with breathing problems caused by a bout of [[influenza]] on 1 February 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4228059.stm |title=Europe &#124; Pope John Paul rushed to hospital |work=BBC News |date=2 February 2005 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref> He left the hospital on 10 February, but was subsequently hospitalised again with breathing problems two weeks later and underwent a [[tracheotomy]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope_john_paul_resting_breathing_on_own_following_tracheotomy/ |title=Pope John Paul resting; breathing on own following tracheotomy |publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |date=25 February 2005 |access-date=17 February 2013}}</ref>

=== Final illness and death ===
On 31 March 2005, following a [[urinary tract infection]],{{sfn|BBC 2005-04-01}} he developed [[septic shock]], a form of infection with a high fever and low [[blood pressure]], but was not hospitalised. Instead, he was monitored by a team of consultants at his private residence. This was taken as an indication by the pope, and those close to him, that he was nearing death; it would have been in accordance with his wishes to die in the Vatican.{{sfn|BBC 2005-04-01}} Later that day, Vatican sources announced that John Paul II had been given the [[Anointing of the Sick]] by his friend and secretary Stanisław Dziwisz. The day before his death, one of his closest personal friends, [[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]], visited him at his bedside.<ref name="Stourton" /><ref name="Bernstein/Politi" /> During the final days of the pope's life, the lights were kept burning through the night where he lay in the Papal apartment on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace. Tens of thousands of people assembled and held vigil in St. Peter's Square and the surrounding streets for two days. Upon hearing of this, the dying pope was said to have stated: "I have searched for you, and now you have come to me, and I thank you."<ref name="LastWords" />

{{Wikinews|Pope John Paul II dies}}
On Saturday, 2 April 2005, at approximately 15:30 [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]], John Paul II spoke his final words in [[Polish language|Polish]], ''"Pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca"'' ("Allow me to depart to the house of the Father"), to his aides, and fell into a coma about four hours later.<ref name="LastWords" /><ref name="BBCLastWords" /> The Mass of the vigil of the Second Sunday of Easter commemorating the [[canonisation]] of [[Faustina Kowalska]] on 30 April 2000, had just been celebrated at his bedside, presided over by Dziwisz and two Polish associates. Present at the bedside was Cardinal [[Lubomyr Husar]] from Ukraine, who served as a priest with John Paul in Poland, along with Polish nuns of the Congregation of the [[Sisters, Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus]], who ran the [[Prefecture of the Pontifical Household|papal household]]. John Paul II died in his private apartment at 21:37 CEST (19:37 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]) of heart failure from profound [[hypotension]] and complete [[circulatory collapse]] from septic shock.<ref name="BBCLastWords" /><ref name="Pisa" />{{sfn|Navarro-Valls 2 April 2005}} His death was verified when an electrocardiogram that ran for 20 minutes showed a [[flatline]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Vatican Releases Official Record of Pope John Paul II's Final Days|date=19 September 2005|author=The New York Times|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/world/europe/vatican-releases-official-record-of-pope-john-paul-iis-final.html|access-date=29 January 2018|author-link=The New York Times}}</ref>

He had no close family by the time of his death; his feelings are reflected in his words written in 2000 at the end of his Last Will and Testament.{{sfn|Stourton|2006|p=320}} Dziwisz later said he had not burned the pontiff's personal notes despite the request being part of the will.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope aide 'has not burned papers' |work=BBC News |date=5 June 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4610607.stm |access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref>

[[File:JPII on bier.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|(l-r) [[George W. Bush]], [[Laura Bush]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[Condoleezza Rice]], and [[Andrew Card]], US dignitaries paying respects to John Paul II on 6 April 2005 at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]]]]

=== Aftermath ===
The death of the pontiff set in motion rituals and traditions dating back to medieval times. The Rite of Visitation took place from 4 April 2005 to 7 April 2005 at St. Peter's Basilica. John Paul II's testament, published on 7 April 2005,<ref name="Last Will" /> revealed that he contemplated being buried in his native Poland but left the final decision to The College of Cardinals, which in passing, preferred burial beneath St. Peter's Basilica, honouring the pontiff's request to be placed "in bare earth".

The Requiem Mass held on 8 April 2005 was said to have set world records both for attendance and number of [[head of state|heads of state]] present at a funeral.<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="CNN" /><ref name="Independent" /><ref name="BBCMiracle" /> ''(See: [[List of dignitaries at the funeral of Pope John Paul II|List of Dignitaries]].)'' It was the single largest gathering of heads of state up to that time, surpassing the funerals of [[Funeral of Winston Churchill|Winston Churchill]] (1965) and [[Funeral of Josip Broz Tito|Josip Broz Tito]] (1980). Four kings, five queens, at least 70 presidents and prime ministers, and more than 14 leaders of other religions attended.<ref name="CNN" /> An estimated four million mourners gathered in and around Vatican City.<ref name="MsnbcNews2" /><ref name="Independent" /><ref name="BBCMiracle" /><ref name="Beltway" /> Between 250,000 and 300,000 watched the event from within the Vatican's walls.<ref name="BBCMiracle" /> In a historical rarity, [[Protestant]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] leaders, as well as representatives and heads from Judaism, [[Islam]], [[Druze]]<ref>[https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/History/PapalVisit/Pages/Greetings_Pope_Benedict_XVI_religious_leaders_Galilee_14-May-2009.aspx Greetings by Pope Benedict XVI to religious leaders in the Galilee]</ref> and [[Buddhism]], offered their own memorials and prayers as a way of sympathising with the grief of Catholics.

The [[Dean of the College of Cardinals]], Cardinal [[Pope Benedict XVI|Joseph Ratzinger]], conducted the ceremony. John Paul II was interred in the grottoes under the basilica, the [[List of extant papal tombs|Tomb of the Popes]]. He was lowered into a tomb created in the same alcove previously occupied by the remains of [[Pope John XXIII|John XXIII]]. The alcove had been empty since John XXIII's remains had been moved into the main body of the basilica after his beatification.