Millions of people around the world were waiting for news today about Pope John Paul II as he remained gravely ill.

The Vatican's press office closed at 4am and there was no official statement about the Pope's condition as the Oxford Mail went to press.

Cardinals, who will elect a new pope after John Paul dies, are arriving in Rome from all over the world, the Italian media has reported.

The Pope's vicar general of Rome said the pontiff was already "at one" with Jesus Christ. He "already sees and touches the Lord," Cardinal Camillo Ruini told a packed mass in Rome's St John Lateran cathedral.

"I invite all Romans and all Italians to intensify their prayers for him."

The 84-year-old pontiff's poor health worsened further last night as he suffered from kidney failure and shortness of breath.

An estimated 70,000 of the faithful attended a vigil in St Peter's Square, Rome until midnight, although a few hours later only a few hundred remained.

The crowds chanted: "Stay with us. Don't leave us." Many people were weeping.

The Pope, who has received the last rites, appointed a large number of bishops and other church officials yesterday in a move many interpreted as a sign of his impending passing.

Tributes poured in from fellow clergymen as the Pope shunned hospital treatment.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said: "It is not only my prayers and those of Catholics which are being offered, but those of fellow Christians and countless others who have grown to respect and admire this man, who has been in so many ways a witness and extraordinarily important moral voice for the world."

Prayers were said for the Pope at Westminster Cathedral's regular mass in London yesterday, and a steady stream of visitors lit candles before a photograph of John Paul II before the altar.

The Vatican said yesterday that John Paul was in a "very grave" condition but "fully conscious and extraordinarily serene".