Quietly at home, or with heads bowed in church, Americans marked the death Saturday of Pope John Paul II, recalling him as a great leader who combined warmth with moral power, a call to care for the poor with an emphasis on liberty.
Bells tolled at Roman Catholic churches across the nation, as they did at the Vatican and around the world. Religious leaders of all faiths spoke out to honor him, as did political leaders. Flags were lowered to half-staff; blacks bows replaced Easter wreaths at a Wisconsin cathedral.
“We will always remember the humble, wise and fearless priest who became one of history’s great moral leaders,” said President Bush, who singled out John Paul’s praise for America’s Constitution. “All popes belong to the world, but Americans had special reasons to love the man from Krakow.”
Many mourners reflected on John Paul’s long suffering and graceful acceptance of death. Others looked to the Polish-born pope’s clear-voiced denunciation of communism. And others remembered his conservative church doctrine, some gratefully and others not.
In downtown Boston, a sign posted on the door at the St. Anthony Shrine announced his death.
“I think his journey through suffering is complete. I’m proud, as a Catholic, of the way he died. He was a model of how to die with dignity,” said Christine Hall, a 25-year-old teacher coming to church for confession. “He was surrounded by his loved ones at his home.”
Patrick Giprall sat in a pew in Richmond, Va., clutching his rosary beads and waiting to go to confession. “I think he showed how we are all brothers,” said Giprall, 65. “We may have our differences, but we are all family.”
After a Mass in Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Lisa Jenkins of Orlando., Fla., offered her hopes for the future: “It’s a sad day. I’m praying for the world to open its eyes for what he stood for – peace, morality and more.”
People of different faiths and viewpoints all found ways to praise John Paul, whether for his efforts to unite people, his opposition to abortion or his stance on world politics.
Bishop Edward Kmiec of the Buffalo diocese recalled his opposition to war: “Even in his dying days, he was a strong advocate for peace, urging world leaders to look for other ways to bring an end to armed conflicts, or to avoid them altogether.”
“Catholics worldwide have lost a monumental leader and the Jewish community has lost a treasured friend,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. “John Paul II made it a special priority of his papacy to continue the process of reconciliation between the Church and the Jewish people.”
In Milwaukee, Aliyah Seck, a Muslim graduate student, recalled traveling with Christian friends to welcome the pope when he visited Senegal in 1992. Seck said he always respected John Paul. “My religion talks about peace all the time and the pope has been preaching peace his whole life, trying to bring people together,” he said.
In Chicago, many businesses in a predominantly Polish-American neighborhood closed early, said Bogdan Pukszta, director of the Polish American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago.
“Concentrating on business as usual is tougher … it’s impossible for many,” he said.
In Los Angeles’ downtown cathedral, Marisol Carbajal, originally from Chile, broke down in tears. “There are no words to describe the pain I feel, and I can’t even explain exactly why,” she said in Spanish.
Her husband, Jose Carabajal, said the couple’s son asked why – if the pope was so close to God – was his illness was so prolonged?
“I’ve asked myself that as well,” Carbajal said, “but I think that in going that way he … produced this feeling in the world that we need to be united.”
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