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Sunday, April 03, 2005
Philippines grieves over pope's death (11:12 a.m.)
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led millions of Filipinos on Sunday in mourning for Pope John Paul II, who endeared himself to Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation with two well-received visits and prayers in troubled times.
Many lost sleep as they monitored news on the condition of the 84-year-old pontiff from the time he fell gravely ill until he died in his Vatican apartment at 3:37 a.m. Sunday local time, moving many Filipinos to tears and filling churches across the country to offer him prayers.
"Our people received the news of his death with a deep sense of grief and loss. He was a holy champion of the Filipino family," Arroyo said in a statement.
"The world will miss a great spiritual bridge among all nations that he touched and blessed with his gentle hand. The weak and oppressed will always remember their hero and advocate who sowed peace and love," she said.
Arroyo declared a national period of mourning, urging government offices to put flags at half-staff. A militant priest, Robert Reyes, led environmental activists in planting 84 tree seedlings--signifying the pope's age--at a small Manila park to be named after the pontiff.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales called on Filipinos to pray for the pope, who provided guidance and prayers when the country was struck by natural disasters and agonized with its leaders during political chaos.
"He has passed to the other side, but when he was still strong, he led us, guided us, was beside us, visited us or sent letters," he said.
The pope drew huge, emotional crowds during his 1981 and 1995 visits. An estimated 4 million people jammed a seaside Manila park where he celebrated Mass for the world's youth in 1995. He was scheduled to return two years ago for the World Meeting of Families, but the long voyage apparently was considered too taxing for his frail health.
Metropolitan Manila police chief Avelino Razon said the pope was brave and risked traveling to many countries despite threats. In Manila, police thwarted an assassination attempt on the pope by al-Qaida-linked Muslim militants in 1995.
The pope thanked and blessed about a dozen officers, including Razon, for saving his life. "He had touched so many lives, including mine," Razon said.
Many of the issues the pope addressed struck at the heart of the problems that bedeviled the Philippines--poverty, broken homes, war.
Filipinos mourned his passing like a death in the family.
Virginia Cruz, who wore black in a sign of mourning, joined a large crowd of early churchgoers at a historic Manila church to offer prayers for the pope.
"Amid this difficult life here in the Philippines, I pray that he would still help us even if he has left us," said Cruz in tears.
"We really love him, we love the pope," she said. Another churchgoer, Malou Mendoza, said she was grieving but also felt relieved.
"I'm sad because he is one of the greatest rulers of the church," she said. "But at the same time, I am relieved that he is no longer in pain."(AP)
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