Vatican City ? St. Peter’s Square twinkled with the lights of tens of thousands of candles and fluttered with the red and white flags of Pope John Paul II’s native Poland – then fell silent at the moment he died a year ago.

There was no dramatic tolling of church bells at 9:37 p.m. as there was in Krakow, Poland – just a brief moment of silence during an evening prayer vigil before the current pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, told the faithful that John Paul’s memory was still very much alive.

“He continues to be present in our minds and our hearts; he continues to communicate his love for God and his love for man, he continues to arouse in everyone, especially the young, enthusiasm for goodness and the courage to follow Jesus and his teachings,” Benedict said.

In his message, which was broadcast via videolink to Krakow, Benedict recalled John Paul’s suffering, which was so evident during his final days and weeks when he was unable to speak and managed only to bless the faithful weakly with his hand.

“His illness, which he faced with courage, made us all aware of human pain, of every physical and spiritual pain; he gave suffering dignity and value, showing that man isn’t just worthy for his efficiency and how he appears, but for himself because he is created and loved by God,” he said.

City officials said they expected between 100,000 and 150,000 people to attend the vigil, some 10,000 of them from John Paul’s native Poland, where anniversary commemorations were also held Sunday.

One group of Poles from a town near Krakow held aloft a huge red and white banner that read “John Paul the Great Santo Subito” – a reference to the banners that filled St. Peter’s Square during the pope’s April 8 funeral calling for him to be canonized immediately.

John Paul was remembered from Mexico City to India as an advocate for the poor who helped fell communism. Around the world, Roman Catholics praised his legacy and called for his beatification.

The faithful hold candles in St. Peter's square at the Vatican Sunday, April 2, 2006, during a prayer vigil to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II.

Tens of thousands filled Mexico City’s Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the most important Catholic shrine in the Americas.

Many of the faithful used mirrors to reflect the morning sun to the heavens as a way of sending the late pope their love. John Paul visited Mexico five times and was received by wildly enthusiastic crowds on each occasion. He called the country “Mexico, ever faithful.”

At a morning Mass in Lagiewniki, Poland, near Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s longtime personal secretary, delivered a homily dedicated to John Paul’s swift beatification and sainthood.

“He contributed to the fundamental transformation of the world,” said Dziwisz, now the archbishop of Krakow.

Poles credit John Paul with inspiring the pro-democracy Solidarity movement in the 1980s, which sparked protests that helped bring down the communist regime in 1989.

In India, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, and Sister Nirmala, the successor of Mother Teresa, joined thousands of Indians who paid tribute to John Paul, describing him as an embodiment of peace.

In recent days, pilgrims have been lining up to visit John Paul’s grave in a grotto underneath the basilica to pray and leave notes and flowers.

Souvenir shops around the Vatican, which over the past year have given equal space to Benedict and John Paul, by Sunday had reverted to the time of John Paul’s pontificate, with storefronts filled exclusively with John Paul key chains, calendars and snow globes.

Today, Benedict was to celebrate a Mass in the square attended by Dziwisz. The Vatican’s final anniversary event, dedicated to young people, was scheduled for Thursday.