World’s Catholics Reflect on Legacy

Churches were packed, prayers murmured and breath held as Catholics around the world prepared themselves Friday for the imminent death of their spiritual leader, Pope John Paul II.

“We are moved but not desperate -- the church is larger than its popes -- but it wouldn’t be human not to be sad,” said Jacques Perrier, the bishop of Lourdes, a city in southern France holy to Roman Catholic pilgrims.

Perrier extolled John Paul as a man with “an exceptional destiny, in his youth under Hitler’s regime, then under communism and later as a pope.”

For many, hopes that the pontiff would recover from his latest illnesses gave way to resignation that mortality would soon overtake the third longest-serving pope, who has led the church for more than 26 years.

In Washington, the White House said President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush were praying for the pontiff.

“The pope is an inspiration to millions of Americans and people all over the world for his great moral leadership,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Amid the sorrow, many of the pope’s admirers -- not all of them his followers -- focused on the achievements of a pontificate that witnessed the end of the Cold War and reached into the 21st century. Some lauded him for his efforts to heal relations between Christians and Jews and to reach out to Muslims. Others expressed gratitude for his role in helping to bring down the Iron Curtain, especially in Poland, his native land.

“I don’t forget that he played a decisive part in bringing the walls of Europe down,” making the continent “a reunited land of freedom,” said French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Many marveled at the pontiff’s longevity, which extended well past an assassination attempt in 1981.

“The pope’s condition is very delicate, but we have to consider it a blessing the long life that was given him till now,” said Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger, the archbishop of Florianopolis in southern Brazil.

Churches throughout Brazil, a country with more than 120 million Catholics, were filled with worshipers Friday in honor of a pontiff who had visited several times. Father Marcelo Rossi, a young priest whose services attract thousands of congregants, prayed for John Paul’s health. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a practicing Catholic, was said to be monitoring reports of the pope’s condition.

“It’s a moment of suffering for all of humanity,” said Severino Cavalcanti, the leader of the Brazilian National Congress.

Observers say the man chosen to replace John Paul may hail from Brazil or elsewhere in Latin America in recognition of the region having the world’s largest concentration of Roman Catholics.

But Roberto Garcia, a Mexico City taxi driver, was not thinking ahead to succession just yet.

“My family and I will gather tonight to pray at home,” Garcia said, adding that he skipped work a few years ago to see John Paul during a papal visit to Mexico. Now Garcia would like to return the favor and travel to Rome to pay his respects, he said, “but it’s very hard.”

Instead, families in the Mexican capital streamed into the Vatican Embassy bearing flowers, votive candles and other offerings. Some wept.

Large crowds also began gathering early Friday at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe as news of the pope’s deteriorating condition spread.

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera said Mass and prayed for the pontiff.

“We all have to be prepared one day to meet with God,” he told the faithful.

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Sicakyuz reported from Paris and Chu from Rio de Janeiro. Times staff writer Reed Johnson in Mexico City contributed to this report.