"We've just received word our holy father has passed away," said the Rev. Bud Roland, rector of the cathedral. "This Mass will be dedicated to him."
The announcement turned out to be premature, made after an aide in the cathedral's administration office heard a television report that Italian media and at least one U.S. network were reporting the pontiff's death. A note with the news was slipped to Roland in the middle of the service. The peal of the church bells commenced and lasted for one minute, a traditional signal of the death of a pope. So moved were several attendees at the news that they left crying at the end of service.
Sophia Melakou prays for the pope during a Mass that drew about 500 worshipers to Washington's Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
(Photos Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)
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_____Catholics Pray_____
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Photo Gallery: Catholics across the world pray for the ailing Pope John Paul II as he nears death.
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Video: Cardinal McCarrick remembers the pope.
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Video: Catholic religous leaders urge the faithful to pray for Pope John Paul II.
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Video: Mass is held at Washington's Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
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Video: The Post's Robin Wright shares her experiences covering the pope with washingtonpost.com's Terry Neal.
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Church Officials announce the death to the crowd gathered at the Vatican.
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President Bush reacts to the death of Pope John Paul II.
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Live From St. Peter's Square.
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The Post's Robin Wright shares her experiences covering the pope.
_____More From The Post_____
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Pope Edges Near Death As Faithful Pray and Wait (The Washington Post, Apr 2, 2005)
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After Resolute Leadership, an Uncertain Path (The Washington Post, Apr 2, 2005)
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A Vigil Of Hope For Beloved Compatriot (The Washington Post, Apr 2, 2005)
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Catholics Crowd into Churches to Pay Respect (The Washington Post, Apr 2, 2005)
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Under Windows, Pilgrims, Tourists Mill About and Pray (The Washington Post, Apr 2, 2005)
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A spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, Helen Osman, called the announcement "unfortunate."
"It's just unfortunate it wasn't confirmed first," she said. "Everybody was anxious and being a little bit over-concerned."
The Mass, preceded by the recitation of the rosary, during which John Paul's name was invoked, drew about 200 people, double the usual daily attendance.
Velia Williams, 58, who works at the Texas Commission on Emergency Preparedness, said she was not a regular churchgoer. But she said she felt compelled to attend Mass yesterday and "give reverence to someone who has led a life so Christian and so pure and who has been really an example of Christian love and forgiveness."
"He's a wonderful example of God's teachings, and I just felt I wanted to come and say some prayers for his safe journey into Heaven," Williams said.
In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint, the heart of New York's Polish community, confusion filled the streets as premature notices of the pope's death spread even as Vatican officials were saying he was still alive.
Eva Wielgolaski, 37, was sitting in a beauty salon when a group of sobbing women burst into the shop with news the pope had just died. Polish radio began playing funeral music.
"He was our hope. He got us out of communism," Wielgolaski said, referring to the pope's roots in Poland and his efforts in support of liberty there. She left the shop to pray at nearby St. Stanislaus Kostka, which sits on a corner named Pope John Paul II Square. It was the place to be for comfort, she said, as Polish immigrants streamed into the cathedral all day, spontaneously holding up rosaries for the pontiff.
In Boston, the nation's fourth-largest Catholic community, the pope's declining condition was a major source of conversation and concern in the churches and cafes of the heavily Italian North End.
Mary Jane Gandolfo, a secretary at a nearby state government office, made a late-afternoon visit to St. Leonard's parish to say a prayer and light a candle for John Paul. She said a visit to Rome a few years ago, which included a two-hour Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, was a highlight of her life.
"I just feel so bad for him," she said, removing her glasses as her eyes began to fill with tears. "He's our living saint, and I do not want him to suffer. I would like him to be able to go peacefully."
Staff writers Jonathan Finer in Boston, Michelle Garcia in New York, Sylvia Moreno in Austin and Hamil R. Harris and Sudarsan Raghavan in Washington contributed to this report.
