Pope

VATICAN CITY -- Millions gathered earlier today to be a part of one of the largest Western religious gatherings of modern times, conducted with the pomp of an ancient liturgy and attended by royalty.

But Pope John Paul II, who died last Saturday, had doubts about continuing in his role as long as he did, according to his last will and testament published Thursday. Weighed down by illness and age, he reflected on his possible resignation as he turned 80. The pope also wrote of tormented times for himself and the church and left instructions for his notes to be burned.

"The times in which we live are unutterably difficult and disturbed," he wrote in 1980, according to the official Vatican translation from Polish. "The path of the church has also become difficult and tense ... both for the faithful and for pastors."

Faithful crowds

Throngs of pilgrims -- an estimated 2 million since the pope's body went on public view Monday -- had filed past the pope's bier in St. Peter's Basilica before its towering bronze doors were closed late Thursday. Some 4 million people have flooded into the Italian capital to be nearer the pope before his funeral and burial in the Vatican grotto today.

Rome groaned under the weight of visitors. Side streets were clogged in a permanent pedestrian rush hour, mostly by kids with backpacks. Tent camps sprang up to take the spillover from hotels. Hawkers jacked up prices of everything from bottled water to papal trinkets.

"You really have to love the pope to be willing to do this," said Nathanael Valdenaire, a young Frenchman who slept on the pavement in a sleeping bag alongside his sisters.

As dignitaries poured into the city, Rome's security agencies -- bolstered by NATO surveillance aircraft high overhead -- cranked up their defenses against everything from terrorism to unruly crowds.

Rome authorities planned to lock down the city. Starting Thursday night, vehicle traffic was banned from the city center. Air space was closed, and anti-aircraft batteries outside town were on alert. Naval ships patrolled both the Mediterranean coast and the Tiber River near Vatican City, the tiny sovereign city-state encompassed by the Italian capital.

President Bush, along with former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, knelt and prayed at the side of the pope's bier Wednesday night, then paid a courtesy call Thursday on Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. They planned dinner with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The U.S. delegation was to be joined today by Prince Charles, who postponed his own wedding by one day to honor the pope; by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan; and by representatives of more than 80 countries. Jewish and Muslim religious leaders will be there, along with Israel's foreign minister and the head of the Arab League.