Friends, colleagues gather at church for Kennedy's funeral

UNITED STATED.

A funeral Mass to honor the life of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was being held on a gray Saturday that matched the solemn mood at a Boston church packed with mourners.

His renowned family, fellow senators and former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, were attending the service at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Mission district.

President Obama is set to deliver the eulogy.

The program will open with an undated quote from Kennedy: "For all my years in public life, I have believed that America must sail toward the shores of liberty and justice for all. There is no end to that journey, only the next great voyage. We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who is married to Kennedy's niece Maria Shriver, entered the church shortly before the funeral was scheduled to begin.

The actor Jack Nicholson was also present, as was civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.

Other mourners included Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dan Quayle, all veterans of the Senate, where Kennedy served for 47 years.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was due to attend, while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent regrets.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, CIA chief Leon Panetta, and several Cabinet members also turned out to pay their respects.

Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, chatted with Sen. Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, in the pews before the ceremony began.

Honorary pallbearers at the service include Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Democratic Sens. Dodd and John Kerry, of Massachusetts, and long-time Massachusetts congressman Ed Markey, also a Democrat. Video Watch as military honor guard carries Kennedy's casket »

Actual pallbearers will include Kennedy children, nieces and nephews, while Kennedy's son Ted and nephew Patrick are scheduled to deliver remembrances.

World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform two pieces during the service, being joined by the tenor Placido Domingo for one of them.

"America the Beautiful" is scheduled to be the recessional hymn, and Boston's archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, is to deliver the final commendation.
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Kennedy will be buried Saturday evening at Arlington National Cemetery, outside Washington -- 95 feet south of the grave of his brother Sen. Robert Kennedy, which is in turn just steps away from brother John Kennedy's burial site.

Kennedy, the patriarch of America's leading Democratic family for more than 40 years, died at the age of 77 on Tuesday, 15 months after being diagnosed with brain cancer. (CNN)
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