Dignitaries at John Paul II's Funeral

Funeral delegation led by: President Hamid Karzai

Funeral delegation led by: President Alfred Moisiu, former presidents Sali Berisha and Rexhep Meidani, Prime Minister Fatos Nano; Albanian religious leaders: Selim Muca of the (Sunni) Muslim community, Rrok Mirdita, the Catholic Archbishop, Haxhi Dede Reshat Bardhi of the (Shiite) Bektashi Muslim sect and Orthodox Archbishop Anastasios of the Orthodox community

Pope John Paul II visited Albania in April 1993.

Funeral delegation led by: Secretary General Amr Moussa

Funeral delegation led by: Vice President Daniel Scioli, Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa

Pope John Paul II visited Argentina in June 1982 and March 1987.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, Head of Armenian Apostolic Church Catholicos Garegin II

Funeral delegation led by: Governor-General Michael Jeffery, who represents Britain's Queen Elizabeth as Australia's head of state

Pope John Paul II visited Australia in November 1986 and January 1995.

Funeral delegation led by: President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Parliament Speaker Andreas Khol

Pope John Paul II visited Austria in September 1983, June 1988 and June 1998.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Artur Rasizade

Pope John Paul II visited Azerbaijan in 2002.

Funeral delegation led by: Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf

Pope John Paul II visited Bangladesh in November 1986.

Funeral delegation led by: King Albert II and Queen Paola, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt

Pope John Paul II visited Belgium in May 1985 and June 1995.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Rogatien Biaou

Pope John Paul II visited Benin in February 1982 and February 1993.

Funeral delegation led by: President Carlos Mesa and his wife, Elvira Salinas

Pope John Paul II visited Bolivia in May 1988.

Funeral delegation led by: Chairman of the state presidency, Borisav Paravac

Pope John Paul II visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1997 and in 2002.

Funeral delegation led by: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Pope John Paul II visited Brazil in June 1980, June 1982, October 1991 and October 1997.

BRITAIN
Pope John Paul II is kissed by Archibishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leader of the Anglican Church, during a private audience in the papal library at the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2003.

Funeral delegation led by: Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
Pope John Paul II visited Britain in May 1982.
 (Reuters Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Georgi Parvanov, Bulgaria's Orthodox Rousse Bishop Neofit and Vidin Bishop Domitian

Pope John Paul II visited Bulgaria in 2002.

Funeral delegation led by: President Paul Biya, Minister of External Relations Laurent Esso

Pope John Paul II visited Cameroon in August 1985 and September 1995.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Paul Martin

Pope John Paul II visited Canada in September 1984, September 1997 and 2002.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker. (President Ricardo Lagos cannot attend as his 108-year-old mother is very ill.)

Pope John Paul II visited Chile in March 1987.

China said Thursday it would not send a delegation to the funeral because of the Vatican's diplomatic relations with rival Taiwan, whose president, Chen Shui-bian, took advantage of a rare chance to meet other leaders at an international event.

Funeral delegation led by: Vice President Francisco Santos and his wife, Maria Victoria

Pope John Paul II visited Colombia in July 1986.

Funeral delegation led by: President Abel Pacheco

Pope John Paul II visited Costa Rica in March 1983.

Funeral delegation led by: Daniel Rotfeld, chairman of committee of ministers; Rene van der Linden, chairman of Parliamentary Assembly; Giovanni di Stasi, chairman council's body overseeing local authorities

Funeral delegation led by: President Stjepan Mesic, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

Pope John Paul II visited Croatia in September 1994, October 1998 and 2002.

CUBA
Cuban President Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II check the time on Castro's watch during a papal welcoming ceremony in Havana on Jan. 21, 1998.

The pope spent five days touring the communist country. As a result of the trip, Castro allowed Cuban Catholics to celebrate Christmas.

Funeral delegation led by: National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon and Caridad Diego, head of religious affairs for Communist Party (Associated Press Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Tassos Papadopoulos

Funeral delegation led by: President Vaclav Klaus, Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda

Pope John Paul II visited the Czech Republic in April 1990, May 1995 and April 1997.

Funeral delegation led by: President Joseph Kabila, Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba

Pope John Paul II visited the Democratic Republic of Congo in May 1980.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Queen Margaret II and Prince Consort Henrik

Pope John Paul II visited Denmark in June 1989.

Funeral delegation led by: First lady Margarita Cedeno, Secretary of Education Alejandrina German

Pope John Paul II visited the Dominican Republic in January 1979, October 1984 and October 1992.

Funeral delegation led by: President Lucio Gutierrez.

Pope John Paul II visited Ecuador in January 1985.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Francisco Lainez, first lady Ana Ligia Mixco de Saca, Interior Minister Rene Figueroa.

Pope John Paul II visited El Salvador in March 1983 and February 1996.

Funeral delegation led by: Culture Minister Farouk Hosni

Pope John Paul II visited Egypt in February 2000.

Funeral delegation led by: President Arnold Ruutel

Pope John Paul II visited in September 1993.

Funeral delegation led by: Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Abune Paulos

Funeral delegation led by: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his wife, Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner; Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner; also European Parliament President Josep Borrell

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen

Pope John Paul II visited Finland in June 1989.

FRANCE
French President Jacques Chiracand his wife, Bernadette, welcome John Paul II to France on Aug. 21, 1997. The pope had traveled to partake in World Youth Days, a religious festival held outside Paris that attracted 2 million young pilgrims.

Funeral delegation led by: President Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette

Pope John Paul II visited France in May 1980, August 1983, October 1986, October 1988, September 1996, September 1997 and 2003.  (Reuters Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili

Pope John Paul II visited Georgia in November 1999.

GERMANY
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder signs the condolence book for the late Pope John Paul II at the Papal Nunciature in Berlin on April 5.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met with the pope on May 18, 1999, to discuss solutions to help end violence in the Balkans. The date was also the Pope's 79th birthday.

Funeral delegation led by: President Horst Koehler, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

Pope John Paul II visited Germany in November 1980, April 1987 and June 1996.

 (AFP Photo)

GREECE
In May 2001, John Paul II became the first modern pope to visit Greece, meeting with Greek Orthodox Church leader Archbishop Christodoulos in an effort toease religious tensions stemming from the "Great Schism" that separated the Christian church over 1,000 years ago.

Funeral delegation led by: President Karolos Papoulias and Archbishop Christodoulos
 (Reuters Photo)

GUATEMALA
Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Rigoberta Menchu had a personal audience with John Paul II during his visit to Guatemala in July 2002. The pope apologized for church abuses against the indigenous population during the colonization of the Americas.

Funeral delegation led by: President Oscar Berger and first lady Wendy de Berger, Foreign Minister Jorge Briz and Rigoberta Menchu

Pope John Paul II visited Guatemala in March 1983, February 1996 and 2002.
 ( Associated Press Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue
Pope John Paul II visited Haiti in March 1983.

Funeral delegation led by: President Ricardo Maduro

Pope John Paul II visited Honduras in March 1983.

Funeral delegation led by: President Ferenc Madl and his wife, Dalma, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, former prime minister Viktor Orban, Parliamentary Speaker Katalin Szili, Supreme Court Chief Justice Zoltan Lomnici

Pope John Paul II visited Hungary in August 1991 and September 1996.

Funeral delegation led by: Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

Pope John Paul II visited India in January 1986 and November 1999.

Funeral delegation led by: Social Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab, Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni

Pope John Paul II visited Indonesia in October 1989.

IRAN
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on March 11, 1999.

Funeral delegation led by: President Mohammad Khatami
 (Reuters Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Mary McAleese, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern

Pope John Paul II visited Ireland in September 1979.

Funeral delegation led by: President Moshe Katsav, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom

Pope John Paul II visited Israel in March 2000.

Funeral delegation led by: President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Funeral delegation led by: former foreign minister Yoriko Kawaguchi

Pope John Paul II visited Japan in February 1980.

Funeral delegation led by: King Abdullah

Pope John Paul II visited Jordan in March 2000.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Local Government Minister Musikari Kombo

Pope John Paul II visited Kenya in May 1980, August 1985 and September 1995.

Funeral delegation led by: President Ibrahim Rugova

Funeral delegation led by: President Vaira Vike-Freiberga

Pope John Paul II visited Latvia in September 1993.

Funeral delegation led by: President Emile Lahoud (Maronite Christian), Prime Minister Omar Karami (Sunni Muslim), Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri (Shiite Muslim) and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir

Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon in May 1997.

Funeral delegation led by: King Letsie III, Foreign Minister Monyane Moleleki

Pope John Paul II visited Lesotho in September 1988.

Funeral delegation led by: Prince Hans-Adam II, Princess Marie and Prince Nicholas

Pope John Paul II visited Liechtenstein in September 1985.

Funeral delegation led by: President Valdas Adamkas

Pope John Paul II visited Lithuania in September 1993.

Funeral delegation led by: Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker

Pope John Paul II visited Luxembourg in May 1985.

Funeral delegation led by: President Branko Crvenkovski

Funeral delegation led by: President Marc Ravolomanana, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcel Ranjeva

Pope John Paul II visited Madagascar in April 1989.

Funeral delegation led by: Bernard Dompok, minister in charge of the civil service Abdullah Mohamad Zin, minister in charge of religious affairs

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Mohamed Vall Ould Bellal

MEXICO
Mexican President Vicente Fox speaks with Pope John Paul II in Mexico City on July 30, 2002.

Funeral delegation led by: President Vicente Fox

John Paul II visited Mexico in January 1979, May 1990, August 1993, January 1999 and 2002.

 (Associated Press Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Filip Vujanovic

Funeral delegation led by: President Armando Guebuza

Pope John Paul II visited Mozambique in September 1988.

Funeral delegation led by: Ambassador Khin Maung Aye, Archbishop Charles Bo

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende

Pope John Paul II visited the Netherlands in May 1985.

Funeral delegation led by: Governor General Silvia Cartwright

Pope John Paul II visited New Zealand in November 1986.

Funeral delegation led by: President Enrique Bolanos, Foreign Minister Norman Caldera

Pope John Paul II visited Nicaragua in March 1983 and February 1996.

Funeral delegation led by: President Olusegun Obasanjo

Pope John Paul II visited in February 1982 and March 1998.

Funeral delegation led by: Queen Sonja, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik (King Harald is in hospital recovering from heart surgery), and Norwegian Bishop Finn Wagle of the Protestant state church

Pope John Paul II visited Norway in June 1989.

Funeral delegation led by: Minister for Religious Affairs Mohammed Ijaz-ul Haq

Pope John Paul II visited Pakistan in February 1980.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Ahmed Queria

Pope John Paul II visited with Palestinian leaders in Israel in March 2000.

Funeral delegation led by: President Martin Torrijos, first lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos, Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis

Pope John Paul II visited Panama in March 1983.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Minister Leila Rachid

Pope John Paul II visited Paraguay in May 1988.

THE PHILIPPINES
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had an audience with Pope John Paul II on September 27, 2003, at the Vatican.

Funeral delegation led by: President Arroyo

Pope John Paul II visited the Philippines in February 1981 and January 1995.

 (Getty Images Photo)

POLAND
Pope John Paul II hugs Lech Walesa, leader of Poland's Solidarity trade union and later the nation's first post-communist president, in Gdansk, Poland, on June 11, 1987.

Walesa maintained very close ties with the Polish pope, who was once the Archbishop of Krakow. Pope John Paul II had been a powerful supporter of Solidarity, which played a key role in overthrowing communism in Poland.

Funeral delegation led by: President Aleksander Kwasniewski and his wife, Prime Minister Marek Belka, former president Lech Walesa and Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Poland's first post-communist president and prime minister

Pope John Paul II visited his native Poland in June 1979, June 1983, June 1987, June 1991, August 1991, May 1995, May 1997, June 1999 and 2002. (AFP Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Jorge Sampaio and first lady Maria Jose Ritta, Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral, former president Gen. Antonio Ramalho Eanes

Pope John Paul II visited Portugal in May 1982, March 1983, May 1994 and 2000.

Funeral delegation led by: President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu and Romania's Orthodox patriarch Teoctist

Pope John Paul II visited Romania in May 1999.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Metropolitan Kirill, head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate. (Patriarch Alexiy II -- who repeatedly refused to meet the pope -- will not attend.)

Pope John Paul II attempted to visit Russia many times during his papacy, but was never granted permission due to objections by the Russian Orthodox patriarch. During the early years of his pontificate, the communist government of the Soviet Union also refused his requests for entry.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande

Pope John Paul II visited Rwanda in September 1990.

Funeral delegation led by: President Abdoulaye Wade

Pope John Paul II visited Senegal in February 1992.

Funeral delegation led by: President Boris Tadic

Funeral delegation led by: President Svetozar Marovic

Funeral delegation led by: President James Michel

Pope John Paul II visited the Seychelles in November 1986.

Funeral delegation led by: Foday Seasay, ambassador to Germany

Funeral delegation led by: Deputy Prime Minister Professor S. Jayakumar

Pope John Paul II visited Singapore in November 1986.

Funeral delegation led by: President Ivan Gasparovic, Parliament Chairman Pavol Hrusovsky

Pope John Paul II visited Slovakia in June 1995, May 1996 and 2002.

Funeral delegation led by: President Janez Drnovsek, Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel. (Rupel will represent the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.)

Pope John Paul II visited Slovenia in September 1999.

SOUTH AFRICA
South African President Nelson Mandela talks with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on June 18, 1998. Mandela thanked the pope for the Catholic Church's help with education and health care for black South Africans during apartheid.

Funeral delegation led by: Deputy President Jacob Zuma, former president Nelson Mandela

Pope John Paul II visited South Africa in September 1995. (Reuters Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan

Pope John Paul II visited South Korea in May 1984 and October 1989.

SPAIN
Spain's King Juan Carlos kisses the hand of Pope John Paul II during a ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of people in Madrid's central Plaza de Colon on May 4, 2003.

Funeral delegation led by: King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Pope John Paul II visited Spain in October 1982, October 1984, August 1989, June 1993 and 2002. (AFP Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse

Pope John Paul II visited Sri Lanka in January 1995.

SWEDEN
Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria greets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2002, and extends an invitation for the pontiff to visit the following year to honor a Swedish-born saint.

Funeral delegation led by: King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia, Prime Minister Goeran Persson and Swedish Lutheran Archbishop K.G. Hammar

Pope John Paul II visited Sweden in June 1989. (Getty Images Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Samuel Schmid

Pope John Paul II visited Switzerland in June 1982, June 1984 and September 1985.

SYRIA
Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Syrian President Bashar Assad as the pontiff departs Syria for Malta on May 8, 2001.

During the pope's three-day visit, part of a pilgrimage to walk in the footsteps of St. Paul, Assad asked for assistance in the creation of a Palestinian state.

Also, John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque when he visited the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

Funeral delegation led by: President Bashar Assad

 (Reuters Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: President Chen Shui-bian, Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun and imam Ma Shiao-chi

Funeral delegation led by: Minister for Cooperative Development George Kahama

Pope John Paul II visited Tanzania in September 1990.

Funeral delegation led by: Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai

Pope John Paul II visited Thailand in May 1984.

Funeral delegation led by: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, Turkey's Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II

Pope John Paul II visited Turkey in November 1979.

Funeral delegation led by: Head of Uganda's Catholic Church Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala

Pope John Paul II visited Uganda in February 1993.

Funeral delegation led by: President Viktor Yushchenko

Funeral delegation led by: Secretary General Kofi Annan

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush greet Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on June 4, 2004.

The president and the pope were in accord in opposing abortion, but John Paul II was a staunch, vocal opponent of the Iraq war.

Funeral delegation led by: President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush, former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Pope John Paul II visited the United States in September 1979, February 1980, May 1984, September 1987, August 1993, October 1995 and January 1999. (Reuters Photo)

Funeral delegation led by: first lady Maria Auxiliadora Delgado de Vazquez and son Aluaro Vazquez

Pope John Paul II visited Uruguay in March 1987 and May 1988.

Funeral delegation led by: Foreign Relations Minister Ali Rodriguez, Planning Minister Jorge Giordanni

Pope John Paul II visited Venezuela in January 1985 and February 1996.

Funeral delegation led by: President Robert Mugabe, who is defying travel restrictions imposed by member nations of the European Union to attend.

Pope John Paul II visited Zimbabwe in September 1988.