Global InformationList of dignitaries at the state funeral of Pope John Paul II information
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This is a list of dignitaries at the state funeral of Pope John Paul II. After the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005, in Vatican City, and before official invitations were sent by the College of Cardinals, almost 200 countries expressed interest in sending representatives to his funeral. The funeral took place on 8 April 2005, and was one of the largest gathering of statesmen and world leaders in history.[1] Some of the dignitaries later attended the installation of Pope Benedict XVI on 24 April 2005.
In order to accommodate all interested parties wishing to receive a seat during the Mass of Requiem, the Holy See limited the number of members in each official diplomatic delegation to five people, except for the Polish delegation which, being John Paul II's homeland, was allowed ten people, and the delegation from Italy. The limit did not exclude other people of any nationality from attaining individual invitations, unrelated to the individual's country's delegation: for example, the attendance of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, had no connection with the Brazilian delegation. In addition to a country's official delegation, any number of government officials were permitted to attend as pilgrim travellers, remaining outside the basilica during the Mass of Requiem with the general public. For example, the United States delegation included the president and first lady, two former presidents, and the secretary of state, and they all had seats in the basilica during the Mass of Requiem. Dozens of members of the Congress of the United States attended the Mass of Requiem, congregating among the general public outside the basilica.
At the funeral, the dignitaries were seated alphabetically according to the French spelling of their country's name[2] and arranged according to diplomatic protocol.
10 sovereigns, 80 past and present elected heads of state, 75 heads of governments and numerous dignitaries from 18 multilateral organizations, 15 religions and 112 countries attended this Mass.
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- ^ Kulish, N; Cowell, A (9 December 2013). "Scores of Leaders Heading to South Africa for Service". NYC Times. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ Vries, Lloyd (8 April 2005). "Pope Seating Chart Easy As ABC". CBS News. Retrieved 14 January 2015.