List of dignitaries at the state funeral of Pope John Paul II explained

This is a list of dignitaries at the state funeral of Pope John Paul II. After the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005, in Vatican City, and before official invitations were sent by the College of Cardinals, almost 200 countries expressed interest in sending representatives to his funeral. The funeral took place on 8 April 2005, and was one of the largest gathering of statesmen and world leaders in history.[1] Some of the dignitaries later attended the installation of Pope Benedict XVI on 24 April 2005.

In order to accommodate all interested parties wishing to receive a seat during the Mass of Requiem, the Holy See limited the number of members in each official diplomatic delegation to five people, except for the Polish delegation which, being John Paul II's homeland, was allowed ten people, and the delegation from Italy. The limit did not exclude other people of any nationality from attaining individual invitations, unrelated to the individual's country's delegation: for example, the attendance of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, had no connection with the Brazilian delegation. In addition to a country's official delegation, any number of government officials were permitted to attend as pilgrim travellers, remaining outside the basilica during the Mass of Requiem with the general public. For example, the United States delegation included the president and first lady, two former presidents, and the secretary of state, and they all had seats in the basilica during the Mass of Requiem. Dozens of members of the Congress of the United States attended the Mass of Requiem, congregating among the general public outside the basilica.

At the funeral, the dignitaries were seated alphabetically according to the French spelling of their country's name[2] and arranged according to diplomatic protocol.

10 sovereigns, 80 past and present elected heads of state, 75 heads of governments and numerous dignitaries from 18 multilateral organizations, 15 religions and 112 countries attended this Mass.

  • Official delegations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

  • International organizations
  • Religious leaders
  • Unofficial delegations

List of official delegations (in alphabetical order, incomplete)

A

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitles
AfghanistanHamid Karzai
Abdullah Abdullah
Zalmay Rasul
Mostapha Zaher
Mohammad Nadir Hatami
President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Counsellor for National Security
Ambassador
First Secretary
AlbaniaAlfred Moisiu
Fatos Nano
Sali Berisha
Rexhep Meidani
Mirella Moisiu
President of the Republic
Prime Minister
Former President of the Republic
Former President of the Republic
Daughter of the President of the Republic
AlgeriaAbdelaziz Bouteflika
Bouabdalla Ghoulamallah
Mokhtar Reguieg
President of the Republic
Minister of Religious Affairs
Ambassador
AndorraJoan Enric Vives Sicília
Jacques Chirac
Marc Forné Molné
Maria Lluisa Gispert de Forné
Juli Minoves-Triquell
Josep Angel Mortès Pons
Co-Prince
Co-Prince
Head of Government
Consort of the Head of Government
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vice-President of Parliament
AngolaJosé Eduardo dos Santos
Ana Paula Dos Santos
João Bernardo de Miranda
Boaventura da Silva Cardoso
José Filipe
President of the Republic
Consort of the President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Culture
Chief of Protocol of the Presidency
Antigua and BarbudaCarl RobertsAmbassador
ArgentinaDaniel Scioli
Rafael Bielsa
Guillermo Rodolfo Oliveri
Vice-President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Religious Affairs
Secretary of State for Religious Affairs
ArmeniaAndranik Markaryan
Edward Nalbandian
Rouben Shugarian
Armen Bayburtian
Gevorg Hakobian
Prime Minister
Ambassador to the Holy See
Ambassador
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
First Assistant to the Prime Minister
AustraliaMichael Jeffery
Marlena Jeffery
Maria Cicutto
Robert Hunter
Ted Knez
Governor-General of Australia
Wife of the Governor-General


Embassy Counsellor
AustriaHeinz Fischer
Margit Fischer
Wolfgang Schüssel
Hubert Gorbach
Andreas Khol
Federal President
First Lady
Federal Chancellor
Vice-Chancellor
President of the Chamber of Deputies
AzerbaijanIlham AliyevPresident of the Republic

B

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
BangladeshChowdhury Kamal Ibne YusufFood and Disaster Management Minister
BelarusGennady Novitsky
Vladimir Korolev
Aleksei Skripko
President of the Council of the Republic of Belarus
Ambassador to the Vatican
Ambassador
BelgiumKing Albert II
Queen Paola
Guy Verhofstadt
Didier Reynders
Herman De Croo
King of the Belgians
Queen Consort
Prime Minister of Belgium
Deputy Prime Minister
President of the Lower House
BoliviaCarlos Mesa
Elvira Salinas de Mesa
José Ignacio Siles
President of the Republic
First Lady
Ambassador
Bosnia and HerzegovinaBorislav Paravac
Šefik Džaferović
Bariša Čolak
Chairman of the Presidency
President of Parliament
Deputy Prime Minister
BrazilLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Itamar Franco
José Sarney
Marisa Letícia da Silva
Renan Calheiros
Severino Cavalcanti
Nelson Jobim
President of the Republic
Former President
Former President
Former President
First Lady
President of the Senate
President of the Chamber of Deputies
President of the Supreme Federal Court
BulgariaGeorgi ParvanovPresident of the Republic

C

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
CanadaPaul Martin
Sheila Martin
Stephen Harper
Phil Fontaine
Prime Minister of Canada
Wife of the Prime Minister
Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations
ChileIgnacio Walker
Sergio Romero
José Antonio Viera Gallo
Gabriel Ascencio
Pablo Longueira
Minister of Foreign Affairs
President of the Senate
Socialist senator
President of the Chamber of Deputies
UDI deputy
Republic of China Chen Shui-bian
Chen Tang-san
President
Minister of Foreign Affairs
ColombiaFrancisco Santos Calderon
María Victoria Santos
Vice-President of the Republic
Spouse of Vice-President of the Republic
Democratic Republic of the CongoJoseph Kabila
Jean-Pierre Bemba
President of the Republic
Vice-President of the Republic
Costa RicaAbel Pacheco
Roberto Tovar Faja
President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
CroatiaStipe Mesić
Ivo Sanader
President of the Republic
Prime Minister
CubaRicardo Alarcón
Caridad Diego
Raúl Roa Kourí
President of the National Assembly
Chief of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba
Ambassador to the Holy See
CyprusTassos Papadopoulos
George Poulides
Tasos Tzionis
President of the Republic
Ambassador to the Holy See
Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President
Czech RepublicVáclav Klaus
Cyril Svoboda
President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs

D

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
DenmarkQueen Margrethe II
Prince Henrik
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Queen of Denmark
Prince Consort
Prime Minister of Denmark
Dominican RepublicMargarita Cedeño de Fernández
Alejandrina Germán
Carlos Rafael Marión-Landais
First Lady
Secretary of Education
Ambassador to the Holy See

E

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
EcuadorLucio Gutiérrez
Ximena Bohórquez
Patricio Zuquilanda
President of the Republic
First Lady
Minister of Foreign Affairs
EgyptFarouk HosniMinister of Culture
El SalvadorFrancisco Laínez
Ana Ligia Mixco Sol de Saca
René Figueroa
Roberto Simán
María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila
Minister of Foreign Affairs
First Lady
Minister of the Interior
former Ambassador to the Holy See
former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Equatorial GuineaTeodoro Obiang Nguema MbasogoPresident of the Republic
EstoniaArnold RüütelPresident of the Republic

F

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
FijiErmital L. BoladuaduaAmbassador
FinlandMatti VanhanenPrime Minister of Finland
FranceJacques Chirac
Bernadette Chirac
President of the French Republic
Wife of the President of the French Republic

G

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
GermanyHorst Köhler
Wolfgang Thierse
Gerhard Schröder
Joschka Fischer
Dieter Althaus
President
President of the Bundestag
Chancellor
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vice-President of the Bundesrat
GhanaJohn KufuorPresident of the Republic
GreeceKarolos Papoulias
Panagiotis Skandalakis
Konstantinos Georgiou
President of the Republic
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
General Secretary of the Presidency
GuatemalaÓscar Berger
Wendy de Berger
Jorge Briz Abularach
Rigoberta Menchú
President of the Republic
First Lady
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1992
GuineaSidibé Fatoumata KabaMinister of Foreign Affairs

H

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
HaitiGérard LatortuePrime Minister
HondurasRicardo MaduroPresident of the Republic
HungaryFerenc Mádl
Dalma Mádl
Ferenc Gyurcsány
Viktor Orbán
Katalin Szili
President of the Republic
First Lady
Prime Minister
Former Prime Minister
President of Parliament

I

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
IndiaBhairon Singh Shekhawat
Paty Ripple Kyndiah
Oscar Fernandes
Vice President of India
Minister of Tribal Issues and the Development of the North-East
Minister of Relations with the Parliament
IndonesiaAlwi Shihab
Maftuh Basyuni
Freddy Numberi
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
Minister of Religious Affairs
Minister of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, former Ambassador to Italy
IranMohammad KhatamiPresident of Iran
IraqAyad AllawiPrime Minister of Iraq
IrelandMary McAleese
Bertie Ahern
Mary Harney
President of Ireland
Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
Tánaiste (Deputy-Prime Minister)
IsraelMoshe Katsav
Silvan Shalom
President of Israel
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
ItalyCarlo Azeglio Ciampi
Franca Ciampi
Silvio Berlusconi
Gaetano Gifuni
Antonio Puri Purini
Gianfranco Mazzuoli
Marcello Pera
Pier Ferdinando Casini
Piero Alberto Capotosti
Gianfranco Fini
President of the Italian Republic
Wife of the President
Prime Minister of Italy
Counsellor of State, General Secretary of the Presidency
Diplomatic Counsellor to the Presidency
Counsellor Coordinator at the Presidency
President of the Senate
President of the Chamber of Deputies
President of the Constitutional Court
Minister of Foreign Affairs

J

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
JapanYoriko KawaguchiAdvisor to the Prime Minister
JordanKing Abdullah II
Queen Rania
King of Jordan
Queen Consort

K

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
KenyaChirau Ali MwakwereMinister of foreign affairs
KuwaitJaber Al Abdullah Al Jaber Al SabahMember of the royal family

L

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
LatviaVaira Vīķe-FreibergaPresident of the Republic
LebanonÉmile Lahoud
Omar Karami
Issam Fares
Nabih Berri
President of the Republic
Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
Speaker of Parliament
LesothoKing Letsie III
Monyane Moleleki
King of Lesotho
Minister of Foreign Affairs
LiechtensteinPrince Hans-Adam II
Princess Marie
The Prince Nikolaus
Princess Margaretha
Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein
Princess Consort
Ambassador to the Holy See
wife of the ambassador to the Holy See
LithuaniaValdas AdamkusPresident of the Republic
LuxembourgGrand Duke Henri
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa
Jean-Claude Juncker
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (consort)
Prime Minister of Luxembourg

M

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
MacedoniaBranko CrvenkovskiPresident
MadagascarMarc RavalomananaPresident
MaltaEddie Fenech Adami
Mary Fenech Adami
Lawrence Gonzi
Kate Gonzi
Michael Frendo
Guido de Marco
Violet de Marco
Anton Tabone
Alfred Sant
President of Malta
First Lady of Malta
Prime Minister of Malta
Spouse of the Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Former President of Malta
Former First Lady
Speaker of the Parliament
Leader of the Opposition
MauritiusPaul BérengerPrime Minister
MexicoVicente Fox
Marta Sahagún
Luis Ernesto Derbez
President of Mexico
First Lady of Mexico
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Monaco Patrick LeclercqMinister of State
MoroccoPrince Moulay Rachid
Mohamed Benaissa
Mohamed Sbihi
Prince and brother of King Mohammed VI
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ambassador

N

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
NetherlandsJan Peter BalkenendePrime Minister of the Netherlands
New ZealandDame Silvia Cartwright
Peter Cartwright
Governor-General of New Zealand
Spouse of the Governor General
NicaraguaEnrique Bolaños
Norman José Caldera Cardenal
Armando Luna
José Cuadra
President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ambassador to the Holy See
Ambassador to Italy
NigerMireille Fatouma AusseilAmbassador
NigeriaOlusegun ObasanjoPresident
NorwayQueen Sonja
Kjell Magne Bondevik
Queen Consort
Prime Minister of Norway

P

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
PakistanMuhammad Ijaz-ul-HaqMinister of Religious Affairs
Palestine
(Palestinian National Authority)
Ahmed Qurei
Ghazi Hanania
Afif Safieh
Nimer Hammad
Mustafa Abu El-Rub
Prime Minister of Palestine
Spokesman for the Legislative Council
Director of the Diplomatic Representation to the Holy See
General Delegate in Italy
Assistant to the Prime Minister
PanamaMartín Torrijos
Vivian Fernández de Torrijos
President
First Lady
ParaguayLuis Castiglioni
Leila Rachid de Cowles
Vice-President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
PeruManuel Rodríguez Cuadros
Eliane Karp
Eduardo Salhuana
Antero Flores Aráoz
Minister of Foreign Affairs
First Lady
Minister of Justice
President of the Congress of the Republic
PhilippinesGloria Macapagal Arroyo
Evangelina Lourdes Arroyo
Thelmo Cunanan
Georgina de Venecia
Howard Dee
President of the Philippines
Presidential Daughter
SS chairman (former ambassador to Cambodia)
wife of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr.
former Ambassador to the Holy See
PolandAleksander Kwaśniewski
Jolanta Kwaśniewska
Lech Wałęsa
Danuta Wałęsa
Marek Belka
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
Longin Pastusiak
Hanna Suchocka
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Wiesław Chrzanowski
President of the Republic
First Lady
former President of the Republic
former First Lady
Prime Minister
Marshal of the Sejm
Marshal of the Senate
Ambassador to the Holy See
former Prime Minister
former Marshal of the Sejm
PortugalJorge Sampaio
Maria Jose Ritta
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes
President of the Republic
First Lady
Minister of Foreign Affairs
former President of the Republic

R

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
RomaniaTraian Băsescu
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
King Michael I
Emil Constantinescu
Ion Iliescu
President of the Republic
Prime Minister
former King of Romania
former President of the Republic
former President of the Republic
RussiaMikhail FradkovPrime Minister of Russia
RwandaCharles MurigandeMinister of Foreign Affairs

S

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
San MarinoFausta Simona Morganti
Cesare Antonio Gasperoni
Fabio Berardi
Giovanni Galassi
Marcello Beccari
Captain Regent
Captain Regent
Secretary of State for Foreign and Political Affairs
Ambassador to the Holy See
Chief of State Protocol
Saudi ArabiaAbdulmohsin bin Abdulaziz Al-Akkas
Hamad Al-Hajri
Ibrahim Al-Manie
Minister of Social Affairs

SenegalAbdoulaye WadePresident of the Republic
Serbia and MontenegroSvetozar Marović
Vuk Drašković
Boris Tadić
Filip Vujanović
Darko Tanasković
President of the Republic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
President of Serbia
President of Montenegro
Ambassador to the Holy See
SingaporeShunmugam Jayakumar
Walter Woon
Alexander Lim
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Law
Ambassador to the Holy See
First Secretary
SlovakiaIvan Gašparovič
Pavol Hrušovský
Eduard Kukan
President of the Republic
President of Parliament
Minister of Foreign Affairs
SloveniaJanez Drnovšek
Janez Janša
President of the Republic
Prime Minister
South AfricaJacob Zuma
Lenin Shope
N.J. Baloyi
Vice President of the Republic
Ambassador
Vice President's advisor
South KoreaLee Hai-chanPrime Minister
SpainKing Juan Carlos I
Queen Sofía
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Miguel Ángel Moratinos
Mariano Rajoy
King of Spain
Queen Consort
Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Leader of the Opposition
Sri LankaMahinda Rajapakse
Milroy Fernando
Prime Minister
Minister of Christian Affairs
SwedenKing Carl XVI Gustaf
Queen Silvia
Göran Persson
King of Sweden
Queen Consort
Prime Minister of Sweden
SwitzerlandSamuel SchmidPresident of the Confederation
SyriaBashar al-Assad
Asma al-Assad
President of the Republic
First Lady

T

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
TanzaniaGeorge KahamaMinister for Cooperative Development
ThailandSurakiart SathirathaiDeputy Prime Minister
TunisiaMohamed GhannouchiPrime Minister
TurkeyRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Mehmet Aydin
Prime Minister
Minister of State

U

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
UgandaGilbert BukenyaVice-President of the Republic
UkraineViktor Yushchenko
Kateryna Yushchenko
President
First Lady
United Arab EmiratesSheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al NahyanMinister of Information
United KingdomPrince Charles
Tony Blair
Cherie Blair
Michael Howard
Charles Kennedy
Prince of Wales
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Spouse of the Prime Minister
Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition
Liberal Democrat leader
United StatesGeorge W. Bush
Laura Bush
Condoleezza Rice
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
President of the United States of America
First Lady
Secretary of State of the United States of America
Former President
Former President
UruguayMaría Auxiliadora Delgado de VázquezFirst Lady

V

CountryFlagOfficial delegationTitle
VanuatuSato KilmanDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
VenezuelaAlí Rodríguez
Jorge Giordani
Rodrigo Chávez
Roy Chaderton
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Planning
Ambassador to Italy
Ambassador to France

Notes

  1. "China" used here refers to the Republic of China (ROC) and commonly known as Taiwan, rather than the People's Republic of China (PRC), which does not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See and did not receive any invitations to the funeral. Although the ROC Government lost control of Mainland China at the end of the Chinese Civil War, the Holy See still recognizes the ROC, but not the PRC, as the legitimate representative for the government of "China". https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/corpo-diplomatico/corpo-diplomatico_stati_elenco_en.html
  2. The low representation of Monaco is due to the death of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. Monaco's head of state died two days before the funeral of the Pope.

International organizations

OrganizationFlagOfficial delegationTitle
Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of MaltaFra' Andrew Bertie
Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto
Count Jacques de Liedekerke
Marquis Gian Luca Chiavari
Jean-Pierre Mazery
Prince and Grand Master
Grand CommanderGrand Chancellor
Receiver of the Common Treasure
Member of the Sovereign Council
Council of EuropeTerry Davis
Adam Daniel Rotfeld
Rene van der Linden
Giovanni di Stasi
secretary-general
président du Comité des ministres
président de l'Assemblée parlementaire
président du Congrès des pouvoirs locaux et régionaux
Arab LeagueAmr Moussa
Mohamed Ali Nasser
Hala Gad
secretary-general
Chief of Protocol, Ambassador
Member of the Office of the Secretary General
United NationsKofi Annan
Nane Annan
Donald Patterson
Secretary-General
Spouse of the Secretary General
European UnionJosé Manuel Barroso
Jean-Claude Juncker
Josep Borrell
Danuta Hübner
Franco Frattini
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
president of the European Commission
president of the European Council
president of the European Parliament
commissioner in charge of Regional Policy
commissioner in charge of Justice
commissioner in charge of external relations
NATOJaap de Hoop Scheffer
Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer
Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo
secretary-general
Consort of the Secretary General
Vice-Secretary General, Ambassador
OSCEDimitrij Rupel
Ján Kubis
Tatjana Pirc
foreign minister of Slovenia, acting president of the OSCE
secretary general of the OSCE
second secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs of Slovenia
ILOJuan Somavia
Dominique Peccoud
Maria Angelica Ducci
Director General
Coordinator for Relations with the Holy See
Office Head
FAOJacques Diouf
David Harsharik
Michel Savini
Director General
Adjunct Director General
Head of the Office of the Director General
UNESCOKoïchiro Matsuura
Krista Pikkat
Director General
Office Member
IFADLennart Båge
Ewa Westman Båge
Cyril Enweze
President
Consort of the President
Vice-President
Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for RefugeesKamel Morjane
Walter Irvine
Michele Manca di Nissa
Assistant to the High Commissioner
Delegate for Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Holy See
Vice-Delegate for Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Holy See
World Food ProgrammeJames T. Morris
John Powell
Susana Malcorra
Executive Director
Adjunct Executive Director
Adjunct Executive Director
U.N. Office on Drugs and CrimeAntonio Maria CostaExecutive Director of UNODC

Religious leaders

Eastern Christian Churches

Anglican Communion

Protestant Churches

Jewish religious leaders

Druze religious leaders

Unofficial delegations

A selection of dignitaries not seated in the section for official national delegations during the funeral:

Brazil

Individually invited (by the Holy See):

Presidential delegation (invited by the President, but did not seat for Mass of Requiem):

Canada

All representing Quebec

Germany

Philippines

United States

Members of Congress and other dignitaries (not part of the official delegation, thus no VIP treatment):

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Scores of Leaders Heading to South Africa for Service. Kulish. Cowell. N. A. 9 December 2013. 14 January 2015. NYC Times.
  2. Web site: Pope Seating Chart Easy As ABC. CBS News. Vries. Lloyd. 8 April 2005. 14 January 2015.
  3. https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/History/PapalVisit/Pages/Greetings_Pope_Benedict_XVI_religious_leaders_Galilee_14-May-2009.aspx Greetings by Pope Benedict XVI to religious leaders in the Galilee