The world is undoubtedly a better place for the legacy and the teachings Pope John Paul II has left behind, former president Nelson Mandela said on Monday.
Mandela joined the millions of Roman Catholics around the world in mourning the death of Pope John Paul II, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a statement.
”We know that millions more people of all persuasions and backgrounds join us in this shared sense of loss and bereavement,” Mandela said.
”At the same time we celebrate the life of one of the great spiritual leaders of our time, one who gave moral direction and guidance in an age which scientific and technological progress was not always matched by equal progress in compassion and universal caring.”
He said the late pontiff was a consistent voice articulating the need for moral regeneration and caring for the poor and the marginalised.
”We were highly privileged to have met with his holiness on a number of occasions and were always inspired by his wisdom, compassion, humility and deep spirituality.”
Tutu honours pope for his support of the struggle against apartheid
Cape Town’s Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has paid tribute to Pope John Paul II, saying South Africans were indebted to him for publicly supporting the struggle against apartheid.
”He met with some of us as Church leaders to highlight some of the ghastly features of that evil system,” Tutu said in a statement on Monday.
”He spoke out against the unjust international economic system that benefits some and dooms others to lives of poverty, squalor and deprivation, a fertile soil for nurturing terrorism.”
The archbishop said the great Christian leader had been a stalwart in the anti-Communist struggle in his homeland, Poland, before becoming Pope and continuing to work assiduously for peace.
”He was probably the most travelled Pope in living memory and helped to galvanise the faithful who turned out in droves wherever the Holy Father went. He had a special appeal to young people who found him charismatic and irresistible.”
Tutu said the late pontiff took an imaginative initiative when he invited the leaders of different faith communities to a summit in Assisi, showing his commitment to the essential unity of all humankind and his deep respect for people of other faiths.
”In a polarised world, this was a not insignificant push for recognising that we ultimately belong together, and will prosper only together. Anything else means we are doomed.”
Tutu said some were puzzled that the Pope did not endorse liberation theology, and of course the ordination of women, and that some of his appointments reinforced conservative elements in the Church.
”We give thanks to God for a good and faithful servant who helped to make religion something to be taken seriously.” — Sapa