Pope John Paul II

=== 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]]]]