Quotes from around the world

Pope John Paul II was an enormously influential figure — as a religious leader, a moral voice, a politician and a man. The following is a sampling of reflections on the pontiff from leaders and ordinary people around the world.

• “His Holiness Pope John Paul II was a determined and deeply spiritual minded person for whom I had great respect and admiration. His experience in Poland, then a communist country, and my own difficulties with communists, gave us an immediate common ground” — Dalai Lama

• “ A loss for the world, the Catholic Church, peace and freedom-lovers” --  Grand Mufti Ikrima Sabri, the leading Muslim cleric in Jerusalem

• “A great showman, a great communicator of ideas even if you didn’t agree with all of them, a great friend to the world’s poor which is how I got to meet him.” — U2 lead singer Bono
• “We all feel like orphans this evening.” — Vatican Undersecretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri.

• “It is the emotion of losing a grandfather, like losing a living stone to which we have clung for so long.” — Monsignor Patrick Jacquin, the rector of Notre Dame.
  
  
• “He is in glory while we continue in the church, following the paths of Christ.” — Cardinal Dario Castrillon of Colombia, considered a possible successor to the pope.
  
  

• "He was a holy champion of the Filipino family and of profound Christian values that make every one of us contemplate, everyday, what is just, moral and sacred in life," — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
  
  

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• “It is with extreme sadness that we hear of the passing of the leader of the world’s Catholics, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who commanded the three paths of religious learning, philosophical thought and poetical and artistic creativity.” — President of Iran Mohammad Khatami.

• "He came to listen to us and tell us he loved us. ... He taught us humility in life and now he has taught us humility in death. May he rest in peace." — Sami Basha, a Palestinian Catholic living in Rome.

• “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. — U.S. President George W. Bush.
  
  

• “The greatest and maybe the only authority is gone. An era is over forever but his wisdom will also last forever.” -- Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Poland's first non-Communist prime minister.

• “As a godless atheist I never cared much for the church or the papacy. I disliked the fact that the papacy bore down so heavily on Poland. Now I fear that a cult will emerge after his death.” — One-time spokesman of Poland's past Communist rulers Jerzy Urban.

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