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List of dignitaries at the funeral of Pope John Paul II
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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 gatherings of statesmen and world leaders in history,[1] with 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 in attendance. Some of the dignitaries later attended the installation of Pope Benedict XVI on 24 April 2005.
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At the funeral, the dignitaries were seated alphabetically according to the French spelling of their country's name and arranged according to diplomatic protocol.[2] In order to accommodate all interested parties wishing to receive a seat during the Requiem Mass, the Holy See limited the number of members in each official diplomatic delegation to five people, except for the delegations from Italy and Poland, the latter of which, being John Paul II's homeland, was allowed ten people. The limit did not exclude other people of any nationality from attaining individual invitations, unrelated to their 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 Requiem Mass 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 Requiem Mass. Dozens of members of Congress attended the Requiem Mass, congregating among the general public outside the basilica.
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Members of official delegations
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International organizations
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Religious leaders
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Eastern Christian churches
- Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, primus inter pares of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- Karekin II, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church
- Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
- Mesrob II Mutafyan, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and Turkey
- Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens
- Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and all Albania
- Jovan, Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana and All-Italy of the Serbian Orthodox Church
- Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk-Kaliningrad, head of the Department of Interchurch relations of the Russian Orthodox Church
- Lavrentije, Bishop of Šabac and Valjevo of the Serbian Orthodox Church
- Leo, Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland
- Seraphim, Bishop of Ottawa, of the Orthodox Church in America
Anglican Communion
- Rowan Williams, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England, spiritual leader of the Church of England and primus inter pares of the Anglican Communion
Protestant churches
- Dr Alison Elliot, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
- K. G. Hammar, Archbishop of Uppsala, Head of the Church of Sweden
- Jukka Paarma, Archbishop of Turku, Head of the Church of Finland
- Finn Wagle, Bishop of Nidaros and Primus of the Norwegian Lutheran State Church (part of Norwegian official delegation)
Jewish religious leaders
- Oded Viener, representing the Chief Rabbis of Israel
- Shear-Yishuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa
- Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome
Druze religious leaders
- Mowafaq Tarif, spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel[3]
Unofficial delegations
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A selection of dignitaries not seated in the section for official national delegations during the funeral:
Brazil
Individually invited (by the Holy See):
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil
- Itamar Franco, Brazilian Ambassador to Italy; former President of Brazil
- Bishop Odilo Scherer, secretary-general of the CNBB (Assembly of the Brazilian Bishops)
Presidential delegation (invited by the President, but did not seat for Requiem Mass):
- José Sarney, Brazilian senator; former President of Brazil and former president of the Brazilian Senate
- Henry Sobel, leading Rabbi of the Brazilian Jewish community
- Sheik Armando Hussein Saleh, of the "Brazilian Mosque" (representing the Muslims of Brazil)
- Rolf Schunemann, of the Brazilian Lutheran Church (representing the Protestants of Brazil)
- Father João Áviz, Archbishop of Brasília
- Father José Ernanne, representing the Brazilian clergy
Canada
All representing Quebec
- Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal
- Louise Harel, Representative of the Parti Québécois
- Mario Dumont, Member of the National Assembly of Quebec
Germany
- Angela Merkel, Party leader of the CDU
- Edmund Stoiber, Minister-President of Bavaria
Philippines
- Leonida Vera, ambassador to the Holy See
- Hermilando Mandanas, Batangas congressman
United States
Members of Congress and other dignitaries (not part of the official delegation, thus no VIP treatment):
- John Kerry, Senator from Massachusetts
- Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader, Republican, from Tennessee
- Ted Kennedy, Senator from Massachusetts, last living brother of John F. Kennedy (the first Catholic to serve as U.S. President).
- White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card
- New York Governor George Pataki
- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
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Notes
- ^ "China" used here refers to the Republic of China (ROC) and commonly known as Taiwan, rather than the People's Republic of China (PRC), which does not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See and did not receive any invitations to the funeral. Although the ROC Government lost control of Mainland China at the end of the Chinese Civil War, the Holy See still recognizes the ROC, but not the PRC, as the legitimate representative for the government of "China".
- ^ The low representation of Monaco is due to the death of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. Monaco's head of state died two days before the funeral of the Pope.
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References
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