RELATED VIDEO CNN's Carl Rochelle reports on the continuing crash investigation. Windows Media 28K 80K Boston Bureau Chief Bill Delaney reports on the burial at sea. Windows Media 28K 80K Because the American public has felt such a desire to mourn Kennedy, a makeshift memorial has been set up, and tributes paid, outside his New York apartment. Correspondent Deborah Feyerick takes you there. Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Siobhan Darrow reports, growing numbers of Americans are choosing to be buried at sea. Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Charles Bierbauer looks at the extensive search and rescue mission and how the costs will be absorbed. Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Jamie McIntyre looks at the rescue and salvage operation. Windows Media 28K 80K CLICK HERE FOR MORE VIDEO  KENNEDY'S DESCENT: Animation: Windows Media 28K 80K  SPECIAL: Remembering John F. Kennedy Jr.   • Profile  ALSO: Click here for more stories MESSAGE BOARDS: Kennedy tragedy Chat now: JFK Jr.'s body and plane located INTERACTIVE A nation remembers Kennedy Kennedy Image Gallery

July 23, 1999
Web posted at: 2:51 a.m. EDT (0651 GMT)

In this story: Son of first Catholic president Priest who married JFK Jr. will say memorial Mass Bessette sisters memorial Burial at sea details Plane wreckage headed to Rhode Island Autopsy results RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEW YORK (CNN) -- One day after conducting a burial at sea for John F. Kennedy Jr., 38, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, 33, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, 34, their families will attend a private memorial Mass on Friday morning to celebrate the lives of the couple.

A private service for Lauren Bessette is scheduled for Saturday night in Connecticut.

The final resting place for the three was in the waters off Martha's Vineyard, not far from where they died instantly last Friday when the aircraft piloted by Kennedy plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.

Seventeen family members attended the somber, private burial service aboard the destroyer USS Briscoe.

Hours later, about 1,000 people packed a public Mass on Thursday evening at the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Another 3,000 mourners stood outside the ceremony, which was organized by the Emerald Isle Immigration Center.

"With faith, hope and, certainly with love, we come together for healing, we come together for prayer, we come together to thank God for three gifts we were given, yet for too short a time," the Rev. Keith Fennessy said.

Kennedy's uncle, Sargent Shriver, was among the mourners at Old St. Patrick's. He gave voice to something that has been on the collective conscience for days: The family has suffered tragedy far too often.

"One can never be absolutely prepared," Shriver said. "But the Kennedys have always shown great courage and bravery."

Son of first Catholic president

Irish songs, readings and bagpipes were part of the Thursday night service, which the immigration center organized to allow the community to express its grief.

The Irish group does not have any special ties to the Kennedy family, but members wanted to show their "special bond and love" for the family, chairman Brian O'Dwyer said.

Although people of many ethnic backgrounds and religions attended the Mass, Fennessy said Kennedy had special meaning for Irish Catholics, many of whom revered his father, the nation's only Catholic president.

"Whatever people's political preferences, there was a sense that his father broke through what seemed to be an impossible barrier," the pastor said.

"When an Irish Catholic became president of the United States, it broke through the perception of Catholics in this country as second-class citizens," Fennessy said.

A community remembers Kennedy at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral

Old St. Patrick's is New York's oldest standing Catholic church, first dedicated on May 14, 1815.

Friday's private, family memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. EDT at St. Thomas More Church in Manhattan. The church, which seats about 500 people, is where JFK Jr.'s mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, worshipped.

During her lifetime, on every November 22, a memorial Mass was said at the church in honor of President Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

CNN has learned that Sen. Edward Kennedy will give a eulogy at the Mass.

A pile of flowers and notes was left at the church door Thursday by a steady stream of visitors.

President Clinton, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, plan to attend the service at the invitation of the Kennedy family. Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the oldest daughter of Robert Kennedy, is to accompany the Clintons to New York for the Friday Mass.

The Kennedy and Bessette families are expected to lunch together after the Mass.

Bessette sisters memorial

The family of the Bessette sisters plans an invitation-only memorial service at 7 p.m. Saturday at Christ Church, an Episcopal congregation in their hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut.

CNN has learned that several members of the Kennedy family will attend the service. Those expected to attend include Townsend and her mother Ethel Kennedy.

The service will include remembrances of Kennedy and his wife, but is meant especially for Lauren Bessette. "I think people have tended to forget that she is a person in her own right," said Mary Marks, parish secretary.

The sisters' mother and stepfather will attend, and Lauren's twin sister, Lisa Ann Bessette, is expected to be there, Marks said.

Burial at sea details

The somber, private burial ceremony was held on the "fantail" of the Briscoe, a 563-foot warship capable of firing cruise missiles.

The mourners included Sen. Kennedy; JFK Jr.'s sister, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg; and his cousins Maria Shriver and William Kennedy Smith.

Relatives of the Bessette sisters also attended, including their mother, Ann Freeman, stepfather, Dr. Richard Freeman, and Lisa Ann Bessette.

Sailors dressed in white could be seen flanking the darkly garbed family on the destroyer's stern.

Five members of the clergy -- including four Navy chaplains and a Jesuit priest associated with the Kennedy family -- made brief comments, Defense Department sources said.

During the 30 minute ceremony, a brass quartet played music, including the song "Eternal Father," also known as the Navy Hymn.

The ashes were committed to sea one at a time by family members, with the aid of Navy personnel for safety reasons, from the accommodation ladder at the rear of the ship.

The FAA placed a five-mile restriction on the airspace around the scene, limiting news coverage.

On the shores of Martha's Vineyard, mourners lined the beaches, some hugging each other in tears, placing flowers along the waterfront.

After the service, relatives of the victims returned over choppy waters in the afternoon and were given a police escort as they were whisked away about 4 p.m. Shortly afterward, Sen. Kennedy, his wife and one of his sons arrived back at the family's Hyannisport compound.

Plane wreckage headed to Rhode Island

As the mourners grieved aboard the Briscoe, the salvage vessel USS Grasp continued its recovery work nearby, bringing up more of the plane's wreckage.

The Grasp will transport the wreckage to the naval piers at Middletown, Rhode Island, on Thursday or Friday, according to a Pentagon official. The pieces of the plane will be turned over to investigators.

Naval officials are planning a news conference with divers and other recovery experts assigned to the Grasp.

The Navy expects the recovery ship to return to the crash site to continue with efforts to bring more pieces of the plane to the surface, but that decision is ultimately up to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Autopsy results

The Massachusetts medical examiner who conducted the autopsies said the victims all died instantaneously from multiple trauma injuries caused by the plane crash.

Producer Chris Plante and Correspondents John King, Martin Savidge, Mike Boettcher and Carl Rochelle and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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