Pope John Paul II predecessor, then took the regnal name of "John Paul II", also in honour of the late Pope Paul VI, and the traditional white smoke informed the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square that a pope had been chosen. There had been rumours that the new pope wished to be known as "Pope Stanislaus I" in honour of the Polish saint of the name, but was convinced by the cardinals that it was not a Roman name. When the new pontiff appeared on the balcony, he broke tradition by addressing the gathered crowd: Dear brothers and sisters, we are saddened at
Funeral of Pope John Paul II Funeral of Pope John Paul II The funeral of Pope John Paul II was held on 8 April 2005, six days after his death on 2 April. The funeral was followed by the "novemdiales" devotional in which the Catholic Church observes nine days of mourning. On 22 February 1996, Pope John Paul II introduced revisions to the centuries-old ceremonies surrounding papal death, repose and burial. The revisions enacted through the apostolic constitution "Universi Dominici gregis" applied to his own funeral. Pope John Paul's funeral brought together what was, at the time, the single largest gathering in history of heads of