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• CUBAN GESTURE | 10:01 a.m. ET
In an unusual gesture for a regime that has been antipathetic if not openly hostile toward the Catholic Church, Fidel Castro declares three days of official mourning.
In a letter to the Vatican published Sunday on the front page of Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Castro calls the pope’s passing “sad news” and expresses “the most heartfelt condolences of the Cuban people and government.”
“Humanity will preserve an emotional memory of the tireless work of His Holiness John Paul II in favor of peace, justice and solidarity among all people,” Castro writes.
The Cuban leader also highlighted the pope’s historic January 1998 visit to the island, saying it will remain “engraved in the memory of our nation as a transcendent moment in relations between the Vatican State and the Republic of Cuba.
• POPE'S AILMENTS | 9:15 a.m. ET
The death certificate gives the most extensive details yet on the pope’s range of medical ailments.
In addition to noting his Parkinson’s Disease, it lists other problems as episodes of acute breathing failure, resulting in a throat operation to insert a breathing tube in his windpipe; high blood pressure; lack of blood flow to the tissues and an enlarged prostate gland.
The certificate says the urinary tract infection, and resulting deadly spread of that infection to the blood, was a complication of the prostate problem.
Enlargement of the prostate is common among elderly men. The enlargement constricts the urinary tract, leading to a reduction in the flow or urine, which makes it increasingly difficult to empty the bladder. If the bladder cannot empty properly, bacteria tend to linger and multiply, increasing the risk of a urinary tract infection.
• DEATH CERTIFICATE | 8:06 a.m. ET
In a statement, the Vatican says that John Paul died of septic shock and cardio-circulatory collapse.
The official death certificate lists the ailments the 84-year-old pope suffered from, including acknowledging officially for the first time that John Paul had Parkinson's disease.
• ON DISPLAY | 7:25 a.m. ET
Extraordinary images are provided by Vatican TV of Pope John Paul II’s body lying in state in the Apostolic Palace.
The late pontiff is shown clad in crimson vestments, his head covered with a white bishop’s miter.
The powerful pictures give the world its first glimpse of John Paul since his last public appearance Wednesday.
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