VATICAN - John Paul II: review of the world newspapers, Tuesday, April 5th

Tuesday, 5 April 2005

Vatican City (Fides Agency) - The massive media coverage of John Paul II, called “the Great” by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, continues. Three days after his death the newspapers of the whole world open their first page with the figure of this outstanding Pontiff who marked the history of this century.
In Europe, the French “Le Monde” presents a series of articles and a voluminous dossier on the Pope. Even the Spanish “El Pais”, with the title “The end of a Papacy”, presents a special report on “John Paul II”. While the British “Times” focuses on the crowds of faithful paying homage to the body of the Pope, the German newspaper “Sueddeutsche Zeitung” has started to guess on who will be the next Pope. All the newspapers speak of the crowds of believers in tears who say farewell to the Pope in the Basilica of St. Peter’s and the two million pilgrims who are presumably coming for the funerals on Friday, April 8th at 10 a.m., and they all ask themselves about the Conclave and the future of the Church. Even the eastern media continue to follow the death of the Pope live, his last journey from the Apostolic Palace to the Basilica of St Peter’s, they mention the homage of the faithful, the news of the Conclave and ask themselves about the next Pope: a complete coverage that rouses the anger of radical Islamic groups. Newspapers, too, continue to devote whole pages to memories and surveys on the Pope. The middle-eastern press focused on the issue of succession. The “Daily Star Regional” titles “The Holy Land prepares to say farewell to the Pontiff” calling him a “Pilgrim of Peace”. The “Daily Star Lebanon” proclaims that all the Lebanese leaders, including president Emile Lahoud - the only Christian head-of-state in the Arab world - and appointed Prime Minister Omar Karami, will participate in the Pope’s funerals in Rome on Friday. Also Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir will be present, but he will not take part in the Conclave due to his age. Again, on the Daily Star Lebanon we learn that Lebanese belonging to all denominations pray for the Pope. The Christian satellite television “Lbc” broadcasts the Vatican live and reports that also the Talibans and the Muslims recognise that John Paul II played an important role in the dialogue between different religions. Again, today, the two main Israeli media with English editions, the “Jerusalem Post” and “Haaretz” describe the Pope’s relations with the Jewish world and while the JP explains primarily how the Cardinals prepare for the Conclave, Haaretz focuses especially on the figure of the Pope.
The US press also devote hundreds of covers to the Holy Father. The “Washington Post”, the “Financial Times” and “USA Today” all open with the image of the Pope in the Basilica of St Peter’s or with the tears of the believers swarming in thousands to say farewell to the Pope. The “Washington Post” also presents an article about the reactions from the world. “USA Today” says that more than 200 heads of state are expected in Rome, it describes the huge presence of the police, more than 6000 police officers, and it asks itself about the world after John Paul II, a Pope who changed history bare-handed. It also has an interview with Bush who expresses his gratitude for the Holy Father. There is a large space on the “Financial Times” dedicated to articles on the Cardinals and the Conclave, a hypothetical role of the politicians in the choice of the next Pope, the beatification of King Charles I, a much discredited figure, and the statements of President Bush. The “FT” adds news on the postponement of the wedding between Charles and Camilla fixed for Friday, the day of the funeral, and shifted to the following day, Saturday 9th. The “New York Post” says farewell to John Paul II and notices that thousands of believers took one last photo of him with their mobile phones. On the “New York Post” there is also a survey on the role the Third world in selecting the new Pope. The “New York Daily News” shows a large photo of the crowd in tears for the Pope and it says that Cardinal Edwars Egan will be in the Vatican today. On the “Los Angeles Times” there is a photo of the Cardinals gathered for their first meeting to discuss the future of the Church before the Conclave. It contains several articles on its first page, one on Ali Agca’s request, from the prison of Kartal in Istambul, issued through his lawyer Mustafa Demirag, to take part in the funeral of the Pope that he calls “my spiritual brother”. On the “New York Times” there is also a dossier on the Pope, articles on the crowds of believers, the reactions in the world and an hypothesis of six cardinals who may be elected by the Conclave. Also other US newspapers describe about the farewell of the crowd gathered in the Basilica of St Peter’s, like the “Morning Dallas News”, the “Daily Southtown”, the “Columbus Dispatch”, the “Denver Post”, the “Boston Globe”, the “Chicago Sun-Times” and the “Chicago Tribune”.
Also the Canadian newspapers open with the same topic “The Globe and Mail”, the “Halifax Herald” and “Toronto Star”.
The Venezuelan “El Universal” has a special report on the Pope and focuses on the preparations of the Church, the temporary government, the Conclave and possible successors. Also the Chilean newspaper “La Tercera” has a dossier on the Pope and it writes that John Paul II will be buried in St Peter’s, that Cardinal Angelo Sodano called the Holy Father “the Great” and there will be massive security measures to welcome the faithful and leaders from the whole world. Many Brazilian newspapers remember the Pontiff, from “O Globo” to the “Folha de Sao Paolo”, “Noticias Populares”, “O Estado de Sao Paulo” and “O Povo”.
In Uruguay the newspaper “El Pais Montevideo” opens with the homage to the Pope of the believers at St Peter’s and it says that president Battle will keep his promise to place the statue of John Paul II at the feet of the Cross placed in 1987 between Avenida Italia and Boulevar Antigas. It will be the first country in the world to raise a statue to the Pope. Also in Mexico “La Cronica”, “El Norte” and “El Universal” open with the last journey of the Pope. “El Universal” analyses the difficult future of the Church that will have to face two problems: the crisis in Europe and the United States and its relations with Islam.
Today there are other newspaper covers dedicated to the Pope in Peru: “El Commercio” reports the huge mediatic impact of the death of the Pope. In the state of Panama, on the pages of “El Siglo”, there is a reflection of the President of the Republic, Martin Tarrijos, on the life and works of the Holy Father. In Ecuador the “Diario Hoy” reaches the newsagents with a fifty page book on the Pope. In Colombia “El Pais” says farewell to the pilgrim of peace and asks itself about his successor and the future of the Church. In Argentina “La Nacion” opens with the crowds of pilgrims in tears, it makes hypothesis on the Cardinals and presents the critiques of the opposition with regard to the decision of president Nestor Kirchner not to participate in the Pope’s funeral. (RF) (Fides Agency 5/4/2005 99 lines 1153 words)


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