On Tuesday, March 29, as I stood in St Peter's Square and gazed momentarily at the three windows of the papal suite which open onto the Piazza, I could not help but reflect on the silence of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.

His inability to vocalise what he would have otherwise expressed had brought tears to the eyes of many who had gathered at St Peter's on Easter Sunday.

And this was to repeat itself the following day, Wednesday, March 30, the usual day of audience with the Pope. Not to hear a word from this man of God who had endeared himself to peoples of all cultures, political ideologies, and religious persuasions was the beginning of a journey's end.

John Paul II had spoken for 26 years; now it pleased the Lord to reduce him to silence. As I pondered then in St Peter's Square, I said to myself: “The prophet now speaks by his silence ”. Four days after, that is, on the seventh day of the Octave of Easter, Saturday, April 2, 9.37p.m. he arrived at his journey's end. He entered the place for which his life had prepared him – the Father's House. This is my conviction.

CARIBBEAN VISIT: Pope John Paul II in the Bahamas in 1979.

Since the weekend, thousands have been making their way to Rome.

Not only have they been arriving from the various parts of Italy , but also from every corner of the globe. On Sunday, April 3, there were approximately 100,000 persons at St Peter's. Over two million is expected to be present at the funeral on Friday, April 8.

During these days which anticipate the interment of our deceased pontiff in the tomb of Blessed John XXIII, his body lies in state at St Peter's Basilica, and the public is given an opportunity to pay their last respects to one whom they had grown to love so much.

To say that there are many people is to state things mildly. I think that it is better to talk about a sea of people. It is beyond imagining, and it is like nothing that I have ever experience.

When one considers that the queue to enter the Basilica is about two kilometres long, and that it takes six to seven hours to arrive at the doors of St Peter's, a walk which would otherwise take fifteen to twenty minutes, then something of the enormity of the crowds begins to unfold.

People have been converging on the Basilica since Monday afternoon, all desiring to participate in this historic and religiously intense moment (even though it means just a few minutes filing pass the body of our Holy Father).

Apart from the pause in the early hours of the morning, there has been no ease; there has not been a lull. The people have just kept coming without ceasing. The size of the crowd at 1.00 in the morning is the same as at 1.00 in the afternoon. And this will continue until the day of the funeral.

CARIBBEAN VISIT:Pope's visit to St Lucia in 1986

Early in his pontificate, our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II made a lasting impression on me. Often I was edified by his spontaneous breaking out of the structures of security and his embracing of a child in a gathering wherever he went.

This, together with his reverencing of the land on which, as pilgrim, he was setting foot, moved me to tears on several occasions. His writings, too, have been a source of inspiration, and I have drawn many insights from them.

The exhortation, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (TMA), for example, has been the basis of my reflections on authentic conversion as a journey of the heart .

Accordingly, he says that “The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditioned love for every human creature and in particular for the “prodigal son” (cf Lk 15:11 -32), we discover anew each day.

This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches to the whole of humanity (# 49, par. 2)…the sense of being on a ‘journey to the Father' should encourage everyone to undertake, by holding fast to Christ the Redeemer of man, a journey of authentic conversion” (# 50, par. 1). I believe that he could only write like this because he experienced himself on a pilgrimage to the Father's House.

This is our journey's end , and all of us desire to reach our destination. It is my conviction that this man of God achieved his heart's longing (cf. Song of Songs 3:2). He is in the Father's embrace; he is now in the Father's House.

Our Holy Father's humility

For children, young people and adults, he was a true papa . One of the ladies who work at the Collegio Leoniano where I reside here in Rome touched me when she shared her sentiments with me on Monday, April 3.

Not a practicing Catholic, she spoke about our Holy Father's humility, his care for all, and most of all, his ability to draw close to all persons. His office did not keep him aloof from the people he served. This quality, she noted, was something lacking in the life of many clergy.

Persons, like her, longed to interact with clergy who could be human. Our Holy Father was able to do this. He collapsed the gap between leadership and the people, and made the office of Peter a human and pastoral presence to all the faithful and all persons of goodwill.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the youth of the world loved him so much. They could relate to him. In the end, the Cologne appointment for youth in August 2005 is truly not with him, but with Jesus Christ, whom he has urged all to espouse.

In death, as in life, he draws them and says to them “Open wide the doors to Christ”. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, will remain for the peoples of our times a true papa , and he will speak to the hearts of many throughout the world for generations to come.

At his journey's end , I am happy to have met him. I am happy to be a priest in the Church which was led by a true man of God , prophet and pilgrim , and like Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, docile to the Holy Spirit .

Msgr Michael Stewart Rome, Italy , 6/4/05

PS: I tried to visit with the crowds yesterday, but only lasted two hours. Fr Stephen Quinlan (of St Lucia ) abandoned it after 5 1/2 hours. I hope to try again at 4.30 or 5.00 a.m. At 2.22 a.m , the crowd is the same as at 6.00 or 7.00 p.m. It is incredible!