John Paul will be buried under the spot once occupied by the tomb of Pope John XXIII in the crypt beneath St. Peter's Basilica, Navarro-Valls said during his briefing Tuesday.
John, who launched the Second Vatican Council that introduced Church reforms, was placed in a tomb in the crypt, known as the Vatican Grottoes, when he died in 1963, but his body was later moved into the basilica itself.
Thousands of mourners stand in line to view Pope John Paul II as Cardinals gathered in deep secrecy to prepare a vote for his successor.
(Christopher Furlong - Getty Images)
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Navarro-Valls said that John Paul II would be buried under the ground at the same spot that was occupied by John XXIII's tomb, which was above ground.
In contrast to the closed nature of the selection of a new pope, the mourning and adulation for the late one continued in the open.
Tens of thousands of mourners flowed through St. Peter's basilica in a river that began down a long street, wound through the plaza in front of the basilica and up the staircase that leads inside.
Vatican officials also said Tuesday that the ringing of bells will accompany the traditional signal of white smoke to announce to the world that a new pope has been elected.
Archbishop Piero Marini, master of ceremonies for liturgical celebrations, said the bells were being added to avoid confusion over the color of the smoke coming from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
Black smoke signals no decision has been made, while white smoke means a pope has been elected.
The rules of secrecy surrounding the election of a new pope -- as decreed by John Paul himself -- will make reporting of behind-the-scenes activity one of the great journalistic challenges in history.
Ballots must be burned at the end of the voting (thus the smoke). Cardinals who vote ("Cardinal electors") must hand over any notes they've taken on the voting, and the notes must then also be burned.
Nor are there likely to be any secret tapes available. "In order that the Cardinal electors may be protected from the indiscretion of others and from possible threats to their independence," the pope ordered, "I absolutely forbid the introduction into the place of the election, under whatsoever pretext . . . of technical instruments of any kind for the recording, reproducing or transmitting of sound, visual images or writing."
The rules treat the cardinals as if they were sequestered jurors. They are "to refrain from receiving or sending messages of any kind outside the Vatican City. . . . It is specifically prohibited to the Cardinal electors, for the entire duration of the election, to receive newspapers or periodicals of any sort, to listen to radio or to watch television."
Violations of these rules can result in excommunication.
Barbash reported from Washington.
