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Washington DC, 4th April 2005 (CNA)
- U.S. President George Bush was among a
throng of world leaders who have been praising the
life and memory of Pope John Paul II who died
peacefully at the Vatican on Saturday evening.
The president, who has met with the Holy
Father on three different occasions said Saturday
that, “Laura and I join people across the Earth in
mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II. The
Catholic Church has lost its shepherd, the world
has lost a champion of human freedom, and a good
and faithful servant of God has been called
home.”
“Pope John Paul II”, he continued, “left
the throne of St. Peter in the same way he
ascended to it -- as a witness to the dignity of
human life.”
Pope John Paul II was, himself, an
inspiration to millions of Americans, and to so
many more throughout the world. We will always
remember the humble, wise and fearless priest who
became one of history's great moral leaders. We're
grateful to God for sending such a man, a son of
Poland, who became the Bishop of Rome, and a hero
for the ages.”
Lech Walensa, leader of Poland’s solidarity
movement, which the Pope himself helped inspire,
said that, “(Without him) there would be no end of
communism or at least much later and the end would
have been bloody.”
United Nations Secretary General, Kofi
Annan, called the Pope a “tireless advocate of
peace”, while German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder,
whose own country was long held under the
oppressive forces of communism, said that, "Pope
John Paul II wrote history.
By his efforts and through his impressive
personality, he changed our world."
Israel’s President Moshe Katsav said that,
"The pope ... bravely put an end to historic
injustice by officially rejecting prejudices and
accusations against Jews."
Many suggest that John Paul did more to
further relations between Jews and Christians than
any other pope. |
