This is a list of dignitaries at the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The funeral of Pope John Paul II commenced after the death of the pope on April 2, 2005 in Vatican City. Before official invitations were sent by the College of Cardinals, approximately 200 countries already had expressed interest to send representatives to the funeral of Pope John Paul II, which took place on April 8, 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 only five people, except for the Polish delegation which, being John Paul II's homeland, was allowed ten people. That did not exclude other people of any nationality from attaining individual invitations, unrelated to the individual's country's delegation, which could have reached the limit of 5 – as did, for instance, Brazilian former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, whose presence in the funerals had no connection with the Brazilian delegation. In addition to it, 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. They had seats in the basilica during the Mass of Requiem. Dozens of members of the U.S. Congress attended the Mass of Requiem, congregating among the general public outside the basilica.
The gathering of dignitaries made the funeral the largest gatherings of statesmen at any event. It was also the largest gathering of dignitaries since the state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965. At the funeral, the dignitaries were seated alphabetically by the French spelling of their countries (this order of listing follows).
Official delegations
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
| Country | Flag | Official delegation | Title
|
| Kenya |  | Chirau Ali Makwere | minister of foreign affairs
|
| Koweït (Kuwait) |  | Jaber Al-Abdallah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah | member of the royal family
|
L
M
N
O
| Country | Flag | Official delegation | Title
|
| Ouganda (Uganda) |  | Gilbert Bukenya | vice-president of the Republic
|
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
| Country | Flag | Official delegation | Title
|
| Venezuela |  | Ali Rodriguez
Jorge Giordanni
Rodrigo Chavez
Roy Chaderton | minister of foreign affairs
ministre de Planification
ambassador to Italy
ambassador to France
|
Z
International organizations
Religious leaders
- Bartholomew I, Patriarch of Constantinople
- Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens
- Anastasios , Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and all Albania
- Shear-Yishuv Cohen , Chief Rabbi of Haifa
- Riccardo Di Segni , Chief Rabbi of Rome
- Dr Alison Eliot, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
- KG Hammar , Archbishop of Uppsala, Head of the Church of Sweden
- Jovan, Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana and All-Italy of the Serbian Orthodox Church
- Karekine II, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic 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
- Mesrob II , Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and Turkey
- Jukka Paarma, Archbishop of Turku, Head of the Church of Finland
- Seraphim, Bishop of Ottawa, of The Orthodox Church in America
- Abune Paulos , Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
- Oded Viener , representing the Chief Rabbis of Israel
- Finn Wagle , Bishop of Nidaros and primus of the Norwegian Lutheran State Church (part of Norwegian official delegation)
- Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion
Unofficial delegations
A selection of dignataries not part of their official national delegations:
Brazil
Individually invited (by the Holy See):
Presidential delegation (invited by the President, but did not seat for Mass of Requiem):
- 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)
- Areonilthes Conceição Chagas, the most prestigious Ialorixá in the country (representing the Afro-Brazilian faiths)
- Father João Áviz, Archbishop of Brasília
- Father José Ernanne, representing the Brazilian clergy
United States
Members of Congress and other dignitaries (not part of the official delegation, ie. no VIP treatment):
External links
Last updated: 06-02-2005 23:42:16
