sadness" of the death of Pope John Paul II as the world got its first glimpse Sunday, April 3, of his body lying in state. "In responding to the challenging issues for the church in the world, he opened a dialogue with other religious traditions, and addressed constantly issues of social justice and moral and ethical values," said WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a statement to BosNewsLife.
The WCC is a fellowship of 347 churches, in over 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but it works "cooperatively" with the WCC, church officials say.
"His Holiness Pope John Paul II will be remembered as one of the most courageous spiritual leaders of our time. He demonstrated this courage as much in his illness as he did through his leadership, his writings and his pronouncements," Kobia said.
AFRICAN SYNOD
"As an African, I recognize the importance he gave to the African synod, and the pastoral care in which he identified with the people of Africa," the WCC official added.
It came as Pope John Paul II’s body lay in state Sunday, April 3, his hands clutching a rosary, his pastoral staff under his arm. Millions prayed and wept at services across the globe, as the Vatican prepared for the ritual-filled funeral and conclave that will choose a successor.
Television images gave the public its first view of the pope since his death: lying in the Vatican’s frescoed Apostolic Palace, dressed in crimson vestments and a white bishop’s miter, his head resting on a stack of gold pillows. A Swiss Guard stood on either side as diplomats, politicians and clergy paid their respects at his feet.
REQUIM MASS
Up to 200,000 people reportedly turned out at Saint Peter’s Square for a Requiem Mass dedicated to a man who led the worlds’ 1.1 billion Catholics for almost 27 years. "He died with the serenity of the saints," Cardinal Angelo Sodano told a huge crowd assembled for a somber Requiem Mass. Those gathered heard the Pope’s last message which was prepared for the Sunday after Easter.
"It is love which converts hearts and gives peace," said the text, which was read out by an
archbishop. Cardinals were to meet Monday morning, April 4, to fix the timetable, with more
than 100 world leaders expected to attend the funeral, including United States President George W. Bush, Reuters news agency reported.
"The Catholic Church has lost its shepherd," Bush said after hearing of the pope’s death. "The world has lost a champion of human freedom and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home," added Bush, who calls himself a ‘born again’ Christian.
ISRAEL PRAISE
Similar reactions came from all corners of the world, including in Israel, where Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon described the pontiff as "a man of peace, a friend of the Jewish people."
In 1979, on his first journey home to Poland as head of the Catholic Church, he became the first pope ever to visit a Nazi death camp, kneeling in prayer at Auschwitz – a place he described as a "triumph of evil." In 1986, in Rome, he became the first pope to enter a synagogue; during that visit, he made his now-famous statement that the Jews are Christians’ "elder brothers" and spoke of Christian responsibility for crimes against the Jews.
In 1993, the Vatican finally recognized Israel, a step widely regarded as removing any theological opposition to the Jewish state’s existence. And in 2000, John Paul II not only visited Israel, but won Israelis’ hearts by visiting sites such as the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and the Western Wall, where he observed the ancient Jewish custom of placing a note in the cracks between the stones.
"DEEPLY SADDENED"
"We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer and, asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant," the note read.
In his native Poland, presidents from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia cancelled a summit Sunday because of the pope’s death, as pilgrims filled churches throughout the country. "There has never been such a Pole as him and there never will be," Stanislaw Witek, an electrician from the Pope’s home town Wadowice said, according to Reuters news agency.
Across Central and Eastern Europe Christians gather to pray and remember the pontiff Sunday, March 3. Even a former enemy praised the pope. "He is extremely saddened, he is in grief. He loved the Pope," said Adnan Agca, brother of Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, who gravely wounded Pope John Paul II in a failed 1981 assassination attempt. The pope visited the gunmen in prison and forgave him. (With Stefan J. Bos, reports from Vatican City, Poland, Hungary, Jerusalem and BosNewsLife Research).
