VATICAN CITY — Crowd-control experts were rushing to ready Rome for an estimated 2 million pilgrims for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, left, on May 1, when the city will be thronged with Easter week tourists.
No tickets or invitations will be necessary — as many faithful who want to be there to see the Polish-born pontiff beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood, can come, said Vatican spokesman the Rev. Ciro Benedettini on Saturday.
“We don’t give estimates” of the size of the crowds who will come, Benedettini said. But Italian news reports say authorities in Rome were planning for 2 million pilgrims.
The last turnout so big in Rome was the 3 million mourners for John Paul’s funeral and other ceremonies after his death in April 2005 after he struggled for years with Parkinson’s disease.
The Associated Press
