EUROPE/SPAIN - “Grief for the death of the Pope but hope in the certainty that he is in heaven” says president of the Conference of Religious Father Ignacio Zabala

Madrid (Fides Service) - Marianist Father Ignacio Zabala, President of the national Conference of Religious said this about John Paul II: “he was a Pope who transmitted a great sense of God the Father’s love for mankind. He made us feel close to God and he went about the world doing good and encouraging others to do the same”. The last time he visited Spain on 1 May 2003, John Paul Paolo II said “during the centuries religious men and women have been impelled by love for others, especially the weakest, the young and the children and those who are rejected to give themselves without reserve”. “The Pope’s death is a time of sadness - said Father Ignacio Zabala - but also of hope because we are certain that the Father has welcomed him to heaven.” (R.Z.) (Agenzia Fides 6/4/2005)