John Paul spent so much time on the 10th floor papal suite that he referred to Gemelli as “Vatican III” — a reference that beyond the primary seat of the papacy in Vatican City, the Polish pope also spent considerable time at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, hence Vatican II.

Time-honored rituals, drafted and refined over centuries, allow time for mourning and provide order at a dramatic moment of transition.

Just outside the hospital, hundreds of the faithful with their own stories stop to pray every day at the feet of the statue of St. John Paul II.