World's press bids farewell to Pope

Newspapers around the world have paid tribute to Pope John Paul II. He is widely praised for his role in the fall of Communism and his work promoting tolerance among religions.

Several papers believe his "innovative" papacy will be a difficult act to follow, but others regret his conservative stand on moral issues.

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Europe

Holy Father, you have left us after consuming yourself for us. In this hour, glorious for you and sorrowful for us, we feel abandoned. But take us by the hand and guide us with that hand of yours, which in these last few months has also become your word. Thank you, Holy Father.

Special edition of Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano

Words shall never convey what each one of us is feeling today. Because every Pole's memories are connected with Him. Our greatest highs... our emotions... deepest emotional experiences... You shall always be a good father to us who brought us up who told us how we should live.

Commentary in Poland's Fakt

The life has just ended of probably the most important man of our time Spain's ABC

He was indeed one of the men who had the greatest influence on the history of the 20th century. Just as he influenced the first years of the 21st... If with the Second Vatican Council the Church entered the modern world, with the pontificate of John Paul II the church became one of its leading players.

Italy's Corriere della Sera

Who will ever be able to don the same epic splendour - spectacular and, in short, passionate, triumphant and sacrificial - in which John Paul II clothed himself?

Commentary in Italy's L'Unita

In a certain sense he was a shining meteor, a resplendent comet in transit, behind which the darkness has quickly closed. A pope is dead and another is elected, and so the Church has survived for 2,000 years and will continue for much longer. But the leaves of the tree are yellowing, and the roots sinking into a soil that is ever more sandy and impoverished.

Commentary in Italy's La Repubblica

Ever since his unexpected election and until his last agonising moments, he was simply the most photographed and the most filmed person in the world. With its venerable but dusty image, Catholicism had a problem of visibility. John Paul II, whose 15 minutes of fame lasted a quarter of a century, brilliantly solved this problem. As an actor, facing the zoom lenses, he will be difficult to replace.

France's Liberation

The life has just ended of probably the most important man of our time, a pope for eternity, a pontiff who came from the East - from the other half of Europe - a man who conducted one of the longest and most innovative papacies in terms of doctrine and pastoral action in the history of the Church.

Spain's ABC

The late pontiff was unbending in his defence of the Church's traditional teachings... categorically rejecting abortion and divorce... a conservatism that went hand-in-hand with a progressive position in defence of human rights, in criticizing dictatorships and in the fight against poverty.

Spain's El Mundo

Regrettably, the open-mindedness and forward-thinking John Paul II showed in other areas did not filter through into his position regarding family morals Colombia's El Tiempo

Karol Wojtyla was not a contradictory pope, but a pope of contradiction - against the self-deceiving lies of the modern world. A human being who experienced and suffered the 20th century as a passionate contemporary, and at the same time a man of truly biblical faith: Crystal clear and hard, gapless and strong - like a rock.

Germany's Die Welt am Sonntag

Pope John Paul II, both as a modern and conservative pope, has steered Catholicism into the globalised third millennium built on the ruins of Communism... He worked as a charismatic and great pope.

Hungary's Nepszabadsag

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Africa

Through his devotion to duty in the face of personal adversity caused by his health problems; through his travels and communion with the mass of the people in far-off lands, the Pope has left a legacy not only for the Catholic Church but for mankind.

Nigeria's Guardian

Of course, John Paul has been impatient, even intolerant of dissent throughout his papacy... This single-minded zeal is what has set this pope apart from other contemporary religious leaders, many of whom find it prudent to make social or political compromises in the world.

Commentary in Kenya's Sunday Nation

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Latin America

Pope John Paul II, regarded as a conservative due to his firm stand on controversial issues in the Catholic Church, such as abortion, clerical celibacy and ordaining women, has nonetheless succeeded in uniting traditionalists and liberals despite doubts whether he has served the one billion Catholics all over the world in the best possible way.

Brazil's Folha de Sao Paulo

The Pope kept, almost until the end, the gift for mobilizing the crowds, especially the young. Through his ecumenical efforts he was capable of gathering, in Assisi, representatives of the world's main faiths. Today, with points of reference dwindling fast, he was still an indisputable moral authority.

Commentary in Brazil's O Globo

The death of John Paul II touches not just the Catholic Church, it affects humanity as a whole. This is because, with him, a powerful leader in the cause of peace and the spiritual growth of nations has been lost. His call to defend life in every domain and to fight tirelessly for the dignity of human beings went beyond all borders and echoed into the furthest corners of the planet.

Argentina's La Nacion

Regrettably, the open-mindedness and forward-thinking John Paul II showed in other areas did not filter through into his position regarding family morals, which was always conservative in the extreme and which widened the gap between what is preached by the hierarchy and what is practised by ordinary Catholics.

Colombia's El Tiempo

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Middle East

[Pope John Paul II] travelled constantly with the aim of bringing messages of solidarity among religions and peoples despite his many illnesses and the assassination attempts on his life.

Israel's Yediot Ahronot

Behind the smiles and publicised speeches hid a conservative approach that did not agree to any changes... John Paul II represented the old despite the fact that he flew in jet planes and seemingly lived in the modern world. Moreover, he pursued all church people who tried to propose liberal changes on the issues of Aids and contraception.

Commentary in Israel's Maariv

John Paul II received streams of visits by countless Jewish delegations representing the world's major Jewish organisations and he never failed to meet with local Jewish communities during his endless travels. No pope before him had ventured to bestow such significance on Catholic-Jewish relations. The silence of his absence will be very loud indeed.

Commentary in Israel's Jerusalem Post

The country from which the pope hailed - Poland, and many others in Eastern Europe have been liberated from Communist rule, as he wished and worked for. Christians, Muslims and Jews have begun talking to one another in the search for a common denominator.

Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal

Pope John Paul II struggled throughout his life for the sake of the freedom of mankind, human rights and co-existence. But he ran the church with an iron fist, characterised by little tolerance for independent opinion or interpretative judgements. Therefore he left the church in a state of stagnation and recession.

Commentary in London-based, Arabic-language Al-Hayat

What made him different from the previous popes was his awareness that religion had a determining role, as a moral force, in political life.

Iran's Sharq

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BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.