Tens of thousands of people jammed the main boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square early today to bid a final farewell to Pope John Paul II, joining kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers for the culmination of one of the largest religious gatherings in the West in modern times. Some analysts say it is possibly the largest funeral in modern history, larger than those of India’s Mohandas K. Ghandi, China’s Mao Zedong or Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, each of which produced throngs in the millions. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals and a close confidant of John Paul and a possible successor, referred to him as our “late beloved pope” in a homily that traced the pontiff’s life from his days as a factory worker in Nazi-occupied Poland to the last days of his life as the head of the world’s 1 billion Catholics. On the eve of the funeral, the Vatican released the pope’s last will and testament. Penned in Polish over 22 years, beginning five months after his election in October 1978, he gave instructions for his burial and also told his private secretary to burn his personal notes upon his death.