World pays tribute to a pope who reached out to world

He also died very much in the public eye, making frail appearances until the end of his life. His body was on display Sunday, and officials expect at least a million people to pay respects before a funeral later this week. Many Catholics saw the 84-year-old pontiff's struggle in biblical terms, as a kind of modern Calvary, admiring him for sharing his suffering.

"He has taught us how to die," says Maura Renzi, one of many outside St. Peter's, wiping away tears and leaning her head on her husband's shoulder.

Others were skeptical about the way the Vatican, in their view, was "turning the Pope's pain into a show," in the words of Father Vicenzo Marras, who edits the magazine "Jesus."

That spectacle, however, was not on show everywhere in the world. In China, whose government has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican, the official media buried news of his death on inside pages.

Catholics heard the news in their own way. "At the seminary we learned about it on the Internet," says Sister Teresa, a Chinese nun, as she arrived for Mass at the South Cathedral in Beijing.

The official Chinese Catholic Church does not accept the pope's authority, though it does regard him as "our spiritual father," according to Joseph Liu, a leader of the official church. Millions of other Chinese worship in underground, illegal Catholic churches that consider themselves part of the world Catholic Church.

"In a lot of other countries, there is questioning and criticism of the pope," says Mr. Liu. "We don't criticize in China. Our adherence is unquestioning and strong."

Catholic intellectuals in China have often melded their thinking with that of the liberation theology wing of the Catholic Church. They argue it is possible to be both a communist patriot and a Catholic believer. As one put it, "the first socialist was Jesus."

Elsewhere, Catholics were looking to the future already, wondering what the papal succession holds in store for them, and how John Paul's successor will meet the challenges he will face.

In Latin America, where nearly half the world's 1 billion Catholics live, evangelical Protestant churches are making inroads as "gaps left unattended by the Catholic church are being filled by other religious groups," says Elio Masferrer, president of the Latin American Religious Studies Association, in Mexico City.

To counter this trend, says Mr. Masferrer, the next pope will have to pay more attention to the region's social shifts, and take more account of homosexuality, divorce, and women's rights.

In Africa, the continent on which Catholicism is growing fastest, some believers hope one of their own will be named by the conclave of cardinals that will meet later this month.

"It's a bit ambitious, but it's a good thought," says Yvonne, a South African woman arriving for Mass on Sunday morning at a church in Johannesburg.

In America, many liberal Catholics hope for a less authoritarian leader who will grant more freedom to local clergy and to lay members of the church. Pope John Paul II "was really good at talking," says Dr. Pope. But "he was not good at listening, especially to views that were not his own."

Even critics, however, acknowledged the pope's contribution. "If they don't agree with his positions," says Arthur Tsui, as he left a Mass at St. Andrew's church in New York, "they love him for the amount of work he did for peace and for humanity."

• Sara Miller in Boston; Abe McLaughlin in Johannesburg, South Africa; Robert Marquand in Beijing; Andreas Tzortzis in Berlin; Donald Kirk in Seoul, South Korea; and Ken Bensinger and Monica Campbell in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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