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Pope John Paul II blesses faithful and pilgrims as he tours St Peter's Square during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 7, 2004 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) |
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A bodyguard watches near Pope John Paul II. Amid fears that the pope could become the target of a terrorist attack over Easter Holy Week, systematic searches of pilgrims as well as airport-style electronic security gates have become the order of the day in St Peter's Square. (AFP/File/Patrick Hertzog)
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Pope John Paul II is helped by Vatican ushers as he reaches the altar during his open-air weekly general audience in St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 7, 2004. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) |
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Pope John Paul II chats with Polish girls dressed in traditional outfits during his weekly audience in St. Peter's square at the Vatican April 7, 2004. REUTERS/Tony Gentile |
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Pope John Paul II presides over a Holy Thursday 'Mass of the Chrism' in St Peter's Basilica during which he and priests renew the vows they took when they were first ordained, April 8, 2004. Amid tight security at the Vatican, Pope John Paul on Thursday started four hectic days of services leading up to Easter by telling priests their behavior must always be exemplary. ( REUTERS/Tony Gentile) |
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Pope John Paul II hoists the Holy Host during the Carisma Mass celebrated inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Thursday, April 8, 2004. The Holy Thursday ceremony makes the start of the Vatican's Easter celebrations. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) |
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Pope John Paul II prays on the altar of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 8, 2004 as he presides over a mass, first of a series of ceremonies marking the Holy Week. A year on from the start of a worsening conflict in Iraq which it tried desperately to prevent, the Vatican reiterated its call for US-led coalition forces to be replaced by UN peacekeepers. (AFP PHOTO / Patrick HERTZOG) |
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Pope John Pope II is framed by a Vatican Swiss Guard during the Holy Thursday Mass rite of the washing of the feet in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, April 8, 2004. The rite, last performed by the pontiff in 2001, evokes Jesus' washing of the apostles' feet the day before his crucifixion, and is mantained by the Church as a symbol of humility. (AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti) |
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Cardinal Joseph Ratzingen (L) acting as substitute for the Pope, washes the feet of a priest during the ceremony of the Holy Thursday in Saint Peter's Basilica April 8, 2004. (REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito) |
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Faithfuls walk through a metal detector as they enter in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican April 9, 2004. Italy has imposed unprecedented security measures for the Easter weekend to thwart any terrorist attack, particularly against the Vatican or Pope John Paul II. (REUTERS/Max Rossi) |
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Pope John Paul II sits in a confessional booth before hearing confessions from 11 Catholics in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Good Friday, April 9, 2004, hours before the solemn Easter 'Via Crucis,' or 'Way of the Cross' procession at Rome's ancient Colosseum. (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano) |
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