More from from Rome and beyond

• MOVING THE REMAINS | 10:49 a.m. ET

The process of moving Pope John Paul’s body to St. Peter’s Basilica will begins at 11 a.m. ET with a prayer over the coffin by Chamberlain Cardinal Camerlengo.

The procession will walk through the Noble Staircase, the Raphael corridors, the Hall of Dukes, the Royal Hall, then down the long royal staircase designed by Bernini. It will end in the sloping hallway that leads to the "Portone di Bronzo," the bronze door that is the formal entrance to the Apostolic Palace.

Inside the basilica, the coffin will be placed in front of the Altar of the Confession, the main Bernini bronze columned altar. Following the placement, there will be prayers. Only when this process is completed, at around 2 p.m. ET, will the public be permitted to view the remains.

• NEW PLANS FOR CHARLES | 9:50 a.m. ET

Instead of getting married on Friday as he had planned, Britain's Prince Charles will be leading a British delegation to the funeral. The heir to the throne will instead tie the knot with Camilla Parker Bowles on Saturday.

• BUSH TO ATTEND | 9:12 a.m. ET

White House confirms that President Bush will attend the funeral on Friday. He may leave for Rome as early as Wednesday.

• U.S. DELEGATION | 8:55 a.m. ET

According to U.S. officials, the American delegation to the pope's funeral on Friday will include Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, as well as Senators Rick Santorum and Mel Martinez.

• BURIAL IN THE VATICAN | 7:45 a.m. ET

Despite talk in Poland that the pontiff would be buried in his homeland, the Vatican says his remains will be interred in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica where popes throughout the ages have been laid to rest.

• TIME FOR THE FUNERAL | 7:04 a.m. ET

Italian news agencies, citing unidentified sources, report that the funeral service will be at 10 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT) Friday. Under Vatican tradition, it would have to be held between Wednesday and Friday.

Shortly, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Walls will hold a news conference, his first since the death of the pope, at which he is expected to discuss the arrangement for this week.

• CARDINALS CONVENE AT VATICAN | 4:54 a.m. ET

The College of Cardinals has begun its meeting at the Vatican to plan Pope John Paul II’s funeral and the destruction of his papal ring. Later this month, the red-capped prelates will convene a conclave to pick a new pope.

Monday's meeting at the Bologna Hall of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace is the first gathering of the world’s Roman Catholic cardinals since the pontiff’s death. They will open any final documents John Paul may have prepared for them and set a date for this week’s funeral.

The body of John Paul will emerge from an inner sanctum of the Vatican Monday afternoon for a public viewing.

• ENVOY REMEMBERS POPE'S HUMOR | 3:45 a.m. ET

A U.S. diplomat remembers Pope John Paul II, stricken with the tremors of Parkinson’s disease, greeting a young priest by the arm and putting the man quickly at ease at what could have been an awkward moment.

“What’s the matter, son?” the pope asked. “You’re too young to be trembling like that.”

Lindy Boggs, ambassador to the Vatican from 1997-2001, was one of several former U.S. envoys to the Holy See who thought back Sunday on the personal moments they enjoyed with the pontiff.

Like Boggs, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, ambassador from 2001 until early this year, was struck by the pope’s sense of humor. Nicholson told of a U.S. cardinal who asked the pope, during these recent months of declining health, how he was feeling.

“I don’t know yet,” the pope said, according to Nicholson. “I haven’t had a chance to read the American press. Tell them I don’t run the church with my feet.”

• VIETNAM OFFERS CONDOLENCES | 1:51 a.m. ET

Pope John Paul II, the most traveled pontiff in history, never visited Vietnam. But his name is everywhere in the communist country.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent a message of condolence to the Vatican.

News of the Pope’s death appeared within hours on the front page of the online edition of the Vietnam Communist Party newspaper, Nhan Dan.

On Monday, the party’s umbrella organization, the Fatherland Front, praised the pope's efforts in a condolence message sent to the Vietnam Bishops Council which appeared on the daily’s front page.

“Pope John Paul II was a religious leader who contributed much to advocating peace and reconciliation, to condemning the crime of genocide, war criminals and the threat of the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” said Pham The Duyet, chairman of the organization.

Meanwhile, an official of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs said Hanoi had made preparations for churches nationwide to hold mourning rites, and church officials “could go to the Vatican at their will” for the funeral.

One tenth of Vietnam’s 82 million people are Catholic, and Catholicism is one of six religions recognized by the officially atheist state.

Ties have warmed recently between Hanoi and the Vatican. Last year, diplomats said talks had begun on establishing formal relations.

• PLANS FOR PUBLIC VIEWING | 12:50 a.m. ET 

The cardinals who will elect the next pope are expected to meet inside the Sistine Chapel at 4 a.m. ET (10 a.m. local) to discuss funeral preparations for John Paul II.

Meanwhile, the pope's body is expected to be moved from Apostolic Palace to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing late Monday morning.

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