Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

ROME The sun is in the sky. A fortifying breakfast has been consumed. The major prints have been read. It is almost time to get in line. But let's have one more espresso before the work begins.

The TV in the corner of the bar here on the corner of Largo Branaccio is showing a huge throng of people filling the Via della Conciliazione, which leads from the Tiber to St. Peter's Square. The influx has to be seen to be believed and the numbers are almost alarming. More than a million pilgrims are expected to view the body of Pope John Paul II today and the television reporter is saying that 18,000 people an hour are moving through the basilica and past the body.

I suppose one conclusion we draw from all this is that the 1960's are finally over. Remember? "God is dead!" The pope is, but he's still acting out the central Christian belief that redemption is there to be sought.

Anyway, here goes. Time to enter pilgrim territory.