VATICAN CITY - Following is a chronology of the 68 hours since Pope John Paul II began his inexorable slide towards death on Thursday, when doctors said the 84-year-old pontiff was "sick, very sick."

Friday:
- Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls announces John Paul II suffered an infection followed by heart failure and his condition is "very serious".
- The pope received the last rites at 1717 GMT on Thursday evening after his heart failure, according to Navarro-Valls.
- The pope is "ready" to die, one of the leaders of the Polish community in Rome, Father Konrad Hejmo, tells reporters.
- The pope is "fully conscious," lucid and "extremely serene," Navarro-Valls announces, adding that his condition remains "serious" but "stable".
- Up to 10,000 people gather in silence in St Peter's Square, gazing up at the pope's closed windows in the Vatican.
- The Vatican provides a fresh update on the pope's precarious condition, saying he remains conscious, celebrated Mass at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) and asked for the 14 Stations of the Cross be read to him. He also receives several of his top collaborators.
- The pope's health has further worsened, Navarro-Valls tells reporters around 1700 GMT. He was experiencing a "gradual worsening" of his blood pressure "and his breathing had become shallow.
- A gravely ill Pope John Paul II was already "seeing and touching the Lord," Cardinal Camillo Ruini says at a special mass in a Rome cathedral.
- Vatican health minister and Mexican Cardinal Javier Lozano says the pope is now "in a pre-death phase because the pope is on the verge of death".
- The Vatican denies media reports that the Pope John Paul II has already died.
- Some 30,000 pilgrims join a prayer recital on St Peter's Square under the apartment of the pope. Archbishop Angelo Comastri tells them that "this evening, or tonight, Christ is opening the door to the pope." The crowd later swells to up to 70,000, then dwindles during the night.

Saturday:
- Top Vatican Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger says, after visiting the pope during the morning, that the pontiff "knows he is dying" and has said his "last goodbye."
- China, which bars its Catholics from recognising the Vatican's authority, expresses concerns for the pope's condition and says it hopes his health can be restored.
- Vatican spokesman says the pope is drifting in and out of consciousness, but is not in a coma.
- Navarro-Valls says the pope's overall heart and breathing conditions are "very serious." A new bulletin is announced for around 1600 GMT.
- Italian Cardinal Achille Silvestrini says pope "gave signs of recognizing people" after seeing the pontiff in the morning.
- In bright sunshine, hundreds maintain the vigil for the pope in St Peter's Square, many praying or simply looking up at his third-floor window in silence.
- At Wadowice, the pope's hometown, and all over Poland, the faithful flock to church to keep a continuous vigil of prayers and hymns for the pontiff.
- The exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, says he is praying for the pope, whom he has met on eight occasions. He tells a gathering at his temple that John Paul II worked immensely for the poor and underprivileged people of the world.
- The ANSA news agency, quoting medical sources, reports that the pope is gradually losing consciousness and his condition is apparently irreversible.
- In a statement issued in lieu of a scheduled news conference, the Vatican says the pope has a "high fever" and his condition remains "very serious." However it adds: "When addressed by members of his household, he responds correctly."
- The Vatican announces that John Paul II died at 9:37 pm (1937 GMT).
- Bells begin tolling across Rome, signalling the pope's death.
- US President George W. Bush says that "the world has lost a champion of human freedom."
- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Church of England, expresses her "deep sorrow" at the death.
- Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi says he is "mourning the Holy Father with all Italians."
- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says he is "deeply saddened" by the death of the pope, whom he calls "a tireless advocate of peace."

04/02/2005 21:59 GMT