World mourns Pope John Paul II

• CASTRO'S COMMENTS | 3:52 a.m. ET

Cuban President Fidel Castro is minimizing the role Pope John Paul played in bringing down communism in the former Soviet bloc.

Castro gave a five-hour speech late Thursday dedicated to the late pontiff.

“It’s true that the pope was very critical of communism. But he also became very critical of the capitalist system.” Castro also noted that the pope didn’t try to end the Cuban “revolution” when he visited in 1998.

Castro also had some tough words for President Bush who is attending today’s funeral. Castro called Bush a hypocrite for going “to cry in the presence” of a pope who was adamantly against his policies in Iraq.

• TRIBUTE IN MEXICO CITY | 2 a.m. ET

Thousands of devout Catholics lined the streets of Mexico’s capital Thursday night to watch a popemobile drive by in a final tribute to Pope John Paul II just hours before his funeral.

The pope visited Mexico five times in his 26-year reign and helped end decades of antagonism between the church and an anti-clerical state in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation.

Crowds of people threw flowers at the white popemobile once used by the pontiff as it made its way toward the Basilica de Guadalupe, Mexico’s holiest shrine, where tens of thousands more gathered for a special tribute and to watch a broadcast on giant screens of the funeral rites in St. Peter’s Square.

Only the driver and a former bodyguard of the pope were inside the popemobile. Left behind from a papal visit, this white vehicle is longer than the classic glass popemobile usually used to ferry the pope on official visits.

In the special compartment used by the pope on one of his trips here, a chair stood empty but for a white papal robe draped over it and a single photograph of the pope.

“I stood in this spot the last time he came and when I saw him, I was filled with faith and love. Now I am filled with much sadness because he has gone,” said Monica Santiana, a 34-year-old nurse.

• HUGE THRONG IN KRAKOW | 11 p.m. ET

A crowd of 1 million worshippers held a candlelight Mass in Krakow in honor of Pope John Paul II, gathering in the same vast meadows that drew crowds during his return visits to Poland.

The Mass followed a silent march through the city, where John Paul had once served as bishop and cardinal before being called to Rome to become pope.

“I know that he is here with us,” said Joanna Godawa, 25, who works for a travel agency that sent some 600 people to Rome for the funeral. “He is looking at us from above and smiling. He is peaceful and happy that we have gathered here for him.”

Bishop Jan Szkodan alluded to papal Masses that drew huge crowds in the Blonie meadows in 1979, 1983, 1997 and 2002, when some 2 million people turned out. A million people were waiting there in 1999, when John Paul had to cancel because of illness.

“It is the right thing for Krakow to bid farewell to him here, in the meadows,” said Szkodan. “We are here to bid him farewell, but also to receive his teachings anew.”

Looking out at the many young adults and teenagers in the crowd, he added, “He used to tell young people, you are the future of the world, so it is good so many young people have gathered here.”

Krakow police spokesman Sylwia Bober said the crowed numbered about 1 million.

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