Millions across Asia pray for pope during funeral

Nuns of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity watches the live telecast of late Pope John Paul II's funerals on a giant screen in Kolkata yesterday. The nuns decorated their house with pictures and posters of the pope and held prayers round-the-clock ahead of the funeral. PHOTO: AFP

In the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic nation, an estimated 10,000 people including nuns, priests and families gathered at Manila's Luneta Park ahead of a dusk mass to be celebrated by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales.

"Pope John Paul II We Love You," read one giant banner. "Farewell Pope John Paul II. Thank You For Your Legacy -- The Culture of Life," read another.

The Vatican funeral was carried live on giant television screens in the park, the scene of a giant, open-air mass celebrated by the late pontiff during his last visit to Manila in 1995.

Mourners cheered when a flower-bedecked "popemobile", the bullet-proof vehicle used by the pontiff during the visit, arrived at the head of a procession.

In the eastern Indian city of Calcutta, a giant television screen was set up at Mother House, the mission established by Catholic nun Mother Teresa to take care of the sick and poor.

"We offered our morning prayer for the pope," said Sister Christie of the Missionaries of Charity. "Nuns of the Missionaries of Charity will also organise a special mass after the funeral of the holy father."

Several thousand people attended a one-hour mass in St. Thomas Church in the heart of the city Friday morning, said Calcutta Archbishop Lucas Sircar.

Nationwide, India marked its third and final day of official mourning for the pope, with flags at half-mast at government offices and all official entertainment such as state banquets postponed.

The 300,000 Catholics in Buddhist Taiwan were to gather at night masses to mourn the pontiff, whose funeral was shown live on local television.

China's state television, in contrast, said it would ignore the event.

Despite an official blackout on the ceremony in China, which does not recognised the Vatican, Chinese Catholics marked the day both in official churches and underground congregations.

For most underground Catholic groups, the day would pass in quiet prayer, with no major events organised, according to the US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation, which supports China's unofficial Catholic movement.