VATICAN CITY, April 29 (UPI) -- Final preparations for the beatification ceremony for Pope John Paul II continued Friday at the Vatican.
The pope's coffin was taken out of a crypt under St. Peter's Basilica, the BBC reported. The wooden coffin and a vial of John Paul's blood will be displayed before the high altar in St. Peter's during the beatification Sunday.
John Paul is to be re-interred under an altar in St. Peter's. The pope, who died in 2005, appears to be on a fast track for canonization, or sainthood.
The Vatican says 87 international delegations are expected to be present Sunday and at least 22 heads of state. Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is to be represented by her cousin, Richard, duke of Gloucester.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, a Catholic who was at John Paul's funeral, also plans to be at the Vatican for the ceremony. To get there, Mugabe will have to defy an EU travel ban imposed because of his human-rights record.
About 80,000 visitors from Poland, where the pope was born and lived for most of his life before his election, are expected to be at the ceremony, The Wall Street Journal said. When the ceremony was announced a year ago, officials said a million Poles might make the trip, but they now say many people may have been discouraged by the expense.
