World's press honors pope
PARIS, France -- The world's press united in honoring the late Pope John Paul II Sunday, with even critics of his conservative social message recognizing his place as a man of huge importance in modern times.
In Italy newspapers bid farewell to the Polish priest who made the Vatican his home more than a quarter of a century ago.
"Adieu Wojtyla," headlined La Repubblica over a picture of the pope kissing a child's forehead. "The world is crying for the pope. He passed away saying 'amen'," it said.
Corriere della Sera, in an edition headlined "The pope who changed the world," reported that his last words were: "Thank the young people."
In Britain the lively Sunday newspaper market reflected divergent views on John Paul II's legacy, with the left-of-center Independent on Sunday lamenting his sometimes "baleful influence" on the world.
Also on the left, The Observer deplored his stance on contraception as "an implacable opposition that failed to account for the increasing moral complexities of modern life, not least over the massive depredations of HIV in the developing world."
But the paper went on: "However it is in his commitment to ending world poverty, by helping to change the West's attitude to debt relief for poor countries, that his legacy will be most keenly felt."
On the political right, The Sunday Times said his conservative doctrine may in fact turn out to be more in tune with the world than the progressive views of his critics.
"The moral pendulum may be swinging from the permissiveness of the 1970s, when even a youngish John Paul stood out as a conservative. On abortion and marriage, if not contraception and the status of women and minorities, his views as he approached the end of his life no longer seemed so outdated," it said.
The tabloid News of the World praised his consistency: "With masterful oratory the brave pontiff missed no opportunity to denounce ungodly Marxism ... At least he is a man who held fast to his beliefs -- unlike so many leaders, politicians and clergy today," it said.
In Germany the Tagespiegel daily said that with John Paul II's death "there draws to a close one of the longest, most effective and most combative pontificates in 2,000 years of Christianity."
The popular Austrian tabloid Kronen Zeitung described the pope as both a conservative and a revolutionary.
"He dared to attack openly the effects of brutal and globalized capitalism. He could see that under its grip the poor got poorer and the rich got richer," it said.
In Belgium the Catholic daily La Libre Belgique said it would be a shame if assessments of the pope's reign were limited to the "controversy over moral questions and in particular sexual morality."
"We must not forget that while here in western Europe he seemed deaf to certain changes in society, John Paul II was seen in Africa, South America and Asia as the liberator of millions of men and women subjected to autocratic regimes," it said.
The paper praised his policy of dialogue with other faiths. "Nor did he fear -- despite the luke-warm reaction of some in his entourage -- to seek forgiveness for the errors and sins the Church might have committed," it said.
In Africa, the Kenyan Daily Nation recalled the pope's three visits in the 1980s and 90s, which drew the biggest ever crowds to a religious service in the country's history.
"One of the few nations he visited three times, it is easy to believe that the man felt a strong bond with Kenyans and that Kenyans felt special about him too," the Nation said.
