Pope John Paul II Dies

Pope John Paul II Dies at 84
Saturday, April 02, 2005

Pope John Paul II , the bold, humanitarian leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at 84, the Vatican announced in an e-mail Saturday.
In Jesus Name, may you rest in Peace.

"The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment. All the procedures outlined in the apostolic Constitution `Universi Dominici Gregis' that was written by John Paul II on Feb. 22, 1996, have been put in motion."

The announcement came from papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls and was distributed to journalists via e-mail.

The pope died after suffering heart and kidney failure following two hospitalizations in as many months. Just a few hours earlier, the Vatican had said he was in "very serious" condition but responded to members of the papal household.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican No. 2 official, immediately led a tearful crowd of 70,000 people in St. Peter's Square in prayers for the dead pope as Rome observed a moment of silence.

Some people held their hands to their heads in disbelief — on other faces, tears rolled uncontrollably. The pope's apartment windows were still lit up following the announcement of his death.

Fox News