EUROPE MOURNS THE POPE WHO HELPED REUNITE A CONTINENT

Agence France Press
Friday, 8 April 2005

ZAGREB, April 8 (AFP) – Europeans Friday took time out to remember
Pope John Paul II, credited with setting in motion a chain of events
which led to the collapse of communism and the reunification of a
continent torn apart by war.

Around Europe, almost a year since 10 mostly communist countries
joined the European Union swelling the EU family to 25 nations,
people were remembering the role played by the pope in modern post-war
European history.

In Zagreb, the flag was flying at half-mast above the city’s imposing
cathedral, where dozens of candles were lit inside in remembrance of
the pontiff.

“When I learnt of his death, I felt as if I had lost someone very
close,” said businessman Miljenko Berislavic, watching the pope’s
funeral in Rome on a television screen in one of the city’s cafes.

Croatians, like many peoples in the region, felt overwhelming gratitude
towards Pope John Paul II, for his support as it struggled for its
independence from Yugoslavia in the bloody 1991-95 conflict.

Pope John Paul II, who was born in Poland, was the first eastern
European to be appointed at the head of the Roman Catholic church.

He was never to forget his roots, and during his first visit to Poland
in 1979 just after being appointed, he appeared before the crowds
and said: “May the spirit come down and renew the face of this land.”

His words were interpreted by many as an exhortation to stand up to
the oppressive communist regime.

The fledgling Solidarity union movement took strength from the pope’s
words, and a decade later the Berlin Wall fell, leading to the collapse
of the Soviet Union and its grip on eastern Europe.

In mostly Orthodox Ukraine, churches in the Catholic west of the
country were packed to mark the funeral of the man revered for leading
a revival of Catholicism after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

“This day is the hardest in my life,” Ganna Kovalets, a 76-year-old
Greco Catholic worshipper said at one of the churches, with tears in
her eyes. “There is an emptiness in my soul.”

In Russia hundreds were watching the funeral in silence on a giant
screen in the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the centre
of Moscow.

Some were crying, others had their heads bent in prayer, in front of
a large photo of John Paul II, after Russian television refused to
broadcast the ceremony live.

“The pope for me was a moral voice and it is a great misfortune and
injustice that he could not come to Russia,” said museum employee
Yevgenia.

The Russian Orthodox church had refused to allow the pope to visit
the country, judging the time was not right.

In France, thousands of people applauded outside the Notre Dame
cathedral when the pope’s coffin was shown on giant screens inside
and outside the church being borne aloft in Rome.

A few hundred people also gathered at the Sacre Coeur which towers
above the French capital. There were similar gatherings across France,
and in churches in parts of Germany, particularly the Catholic
strongholds in the south.

Despite reluctance from the Serbian authorities, the funeral was
broadcast live in Belgrade as it was in Bulgaria.

Church bells also tolled across the Czech Republic at midday, with
flags on public buildings, including the building of the Czech Senate,
flying at half-mast as the country, like Hungary, observed a day of
national mourning.

Meanwhile, gypsies in Romania announced they were postponing for a day
an international festival as a mark of respect for the late pontiff.

“John Paul II worked a lot for multi-cultural respect. For us his
26-year pontificate was historic. The Roma people of all religions
in Romania loved him a lot,” said Roma leader Aven Amentza.

In largely Roman Catholic countries, such as Spain and Portugal,
bells tolled and special masses were held, although most people
appeared to have chosen to watch the pope’s funeral in their own homes.

In Lisbon, a giant television screen was set up outside a Roman
Catholic church in the heart of the Portuguese capital, and the
small crowd stood in silence or quietly prayed as they listened to
the proceedings.

And in a small orphanage in northern Armenia built with the pope’s
help after the 1988 earthquake, the pope’s death was being felt as
a very personal loss.

“We prayed for the peace of the pope’s soul. It is a great loss for
all the Catholics in the whole world. He was an exceptional spiritual
leader with his humanism and courage,” said Sister Aruciak.

In Brussels, the heart of the European Union, the bells tolled and
all the flags on the European institutions were flying at half-mast.

But in the Netherlands and Britain, ceremonies were more low-key with
only a few hundred people turning out for special masses.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress