More from from Rome and beyond

• AFRICANS ON A NEW POPE | 1:30 p.m. ET

Some churchmen say the developing world should provide the next pope, and a Nigerian cardinal, Francis Arinze, is among potential successors.

But in Nigeria's southeast, Arinze's home region, Catholics don't have high hopes of seeing the first African pope.

"I doubt if world politics will allow a black man to be pope," said Peter Nwokike, a worshipper in the state of Enugu.

"If the Nigerian has the right profile, then why not?" said Angolan student Joao Manuel.

"For now, I think it's still a utopia," said Eugenie Rokhaya Aw in Senegal's capital, Dakar.

• IN BRAZIL, MIXED FEELINGS | 12:22 p.m. ET

Amid the mourning and words of praise, Brazilians also are remembering Pope John Paul for his battle to impose conservative morals that many feel are at odds with the country's social reality.

Be it on contraception or Marxist theology, the church is often at odds with the government and even its own faithful in Brazil, home to the world's largest Roman Catholic population.

"I think this pope had some contradictory dimensions. To the outside, he was open and progressive. But inward, he was very rigid, very conservative, and for some doctrines, too strict," says Leonardo Boff, a theologian and former priest who was forced out of the priesthood for his liberal politics.

The Brazilian church backed pro-democracy protests that helped end a military dictatorship in 1985 and has been outspoken in the fight against poverty. But the pope was also instrumental in quashing the Marxist-tinged "liberation theology" of the 1970s and 1980s that called on the church to defend the poor against repressive governments.

Most recently, the church has clashed with the government and Brazilian society over Pope John Paul's rigid ban on contraception.

• MUSLIMS EXPRESS REGRETS | 11:46 a.m. ET

Muslims praise Pope John Paul's drive to build bridges with Islam and say his death has cost both faiths a campaigner for peace and justice.

The Arab League lowers the flag over its Cairo headquarters to half-mast. League spokesman Hossam Zaki says the pope had helped avoid "unnecessary misunderstandings" between Christians and Muslims over Western government policies in the region.

The pope led a campaign over the past two decades to help turn conflict between the world's 1.1 billion Catholics and 1.2 billion Muslims into cooperation. He was the first pope to officially visit a mosque during a trip to Syria in 2001.

Muslims say the pope's support for the Palestinians and opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 increased their respect for him and helped contain the idea of a "clash of civilisations" after the Sept. 11 attacks.

• AN AFRICAN POPE? | 10:33 a.m. ET

While it will be a few days before the cardinals sit down to choose John Paul’s successor, the leading South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, offered a suggestion on Sunday.

“(I hope the cardinals) ... will follow the first non-Italian pope by electing the first African pope,” the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner told reporters outside his home in Cape Town.

There are a number of strong African candidates, the most notable being Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria. Click here for more information on the process for electing a new pope.

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