World mourns Pope John Paul II

• RABBI'S APPRECIATION | 6:31 a.m. ET

Pope John Paul’s decision to mention a Jew in his will was a sign to his successor to continue and improve his record of opening to Judaism, Rome’s former Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff has said.

Toaff, who welcomed the pope on his ground-breaking visit to the city’s synagogue in 1986, said in interviews with Italian newspapers published on Friday that he was surprised to be named along with two Roman Catholic prelates.

John Paul, the first pope to set foot in a synagogue, is seen as the pontiff who most helped heal Jewish rifts with the Christian world after the Holocaust.

“It is a very important, moving fact that I did not expect,” Toaff told the daily La Repubblica. “It is a significant and profound gesture for Jews. But I think it is also an indication to the Catholic world.”

• BIGGEST SECURITY OPERATION? | 5:52 a.m. ET

An Italian military commander says he doesn’t think he’s ever seen such a huge effort to protect any one place in Italy.

Security is extremely tight in Rome and Vatican City, where hundreds of dignitaries are on hand for Pope John Paul’s funeral. Even bishops were required to go through metal detectors.

Helicopters and fighter jets are constantly flying over St. Peter’s Square, with authorities saying their worst-case scenario was a threat from the sky. Anti-aircraft rocket launchers are cocked and ready at spots around the capital.

Paramilitary officers with automatic weapons are at nearly all of Rome’s intersections. The city is virtually sealed off to car and truck traffic until later today.

The city’s police chief says some eight-thousand security agents are on hand, including two-thousand uniformed guards in the square mixing with 15-hundred plainclothes officers.

• WELSH MONKS FOLLOW EVENTS | 4:45 a.m. ET

Monks living on an island off the west coast of Wales have flown in a satellite dish to watch the Pope’s funeral on Friday.

Caldey Abbey, on Caldey Island, is home to the monks of the contemplative Cistercian order which follows a strict routine of prayer and work throughout the day and observes vows of silence every evening.

They already own a television set, although it has not been used for some time, but the satellite is needed to pick up the signal from Rome.

The monks have promised to return the dish once the funeral is over.

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