Latin American reaction to the death of the Pope

Susana Barrera, SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, April 2, 2005

Throughout Latin America, a majority Catholic population, Pope John Paul II's death caused grief and Taxi Heathrow Airport motivated expressions of mourning in both Catholic and Evangelical Churches.

The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession of Brazil (IECLB) expressed its condolences to the faithful and ministers of the Catholic Church and said it had accompanied "the passion of the Pope, who God has called to eternal life, with prayer and solidarity."

"A great spiritual and moral leader who worked tirelessly for peace and social justice" in favor of Church and faith unity has died, said a message signed by the first vice president of the IECLB Homero Severo Pinto.

He renewed the ecumenical commitment of the II Vatican Council and brought together religious leader from around the world in Asis, to pray for peace, he added.

We ask the Holy Spirit to accompany the Catholic Church in this painful mourning process and the definition of its future path, he said.

In El Salvador, Bishop Martín Barahona, primate of the Anglican Church of the Central American Region (IARCA) and president of the National Council of Salvadoran Churches said "The pilgrim Pope has not died; he continues his walk to resurrection and eternal life."

The National Council of Churches (CNI); that includes the Lutheran Churches, the Calvinist Reform, Baptist and Anglican Episcopal Church, profoundly laments the death of the "Pilgrim Pope" but emphasizes that we must not forget the  hope of Christians which is the Resurrection.

"While we disagree on issues like the ordination of women, family planning  and others, this does not mean that we do not recognize his contribution, his vocation as a man of faith," said Barahona.

He added that they are praying so that the Holy Spirit enlightens the 117 Roman Catholic Church cardinals who must decide on Pope John Paul II's successor.

In Cuba the Fidel Castro government authorized the broadcasting of a message from Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, who according to Vatican experts is a possible candidate.

The Cardinal called on all Cuban Christians and Catholics to pray for Pope John Paul the II and recalled his 1998 visit to Cuba.

A visibly moved Ortega said "A great man has died, a man who has carried the moral weight of the world for 26 years. A man who has had the  responsibility of becoming a moral reference for humanity in recent years filled with wars and difficulties."

He recalled that Pope John Paul II decided to travel the world trying to take a "message of love, peace, truth and freedom, of salvation to all humanity." As such "he came to Cuba and was among us. His visit is unforgettable."