Catholics across Asia flocked to churches to pray for Pope John Paul II on yesterday, even as they braced themselves for the death of the man Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said was "a lasting source of strength in a troubled world."
In the Philippines, the bastion of Roman Catholicism in Asia, church leaders held prayer vigils for the 84-year-old pontiff, who lay on the brink of death in the Vatican after suffering heart failure and septic shock.
The Philippine president said Pope John Paul II remained an inspiration despite his condition.
PHOTO: AP
"Pope John Paul II has an enduring place in the heart of millions of the Filipino faithful for the special care and attention he has shown to us and it saddens us all to hear the news of his grave condition," Arroyo, herself a devout Catholic, said in a statement.
"His serene courage and indomitable will remain a lasting source of our strength and hope as we face the trials and challenges of a troubled world," she added.
Monsignor Hernando Coronel, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the pope forged strong links with the nation's Catholic majority of almost 50 million during two visits in 1981 and 1995.
"People see the face of the pope as the face and picture of our Lord Jesus Christ," Coronel said.
Philippine newspapers devoted much of their news and features pages to the pope's condition on yesterday.
"Last rites!" the tabloid People's Journal proclaimed in its front page headline, while the Manila Times newspaper carried the banner "Pope close to death."
In Australia, where about a quarter of the 20 million population is Catholic, Prime Minister John Howard paid tribute to the pope's political legacy.
Howard, an Anglican, said the pope had helped defeat communism, bringing freedom to his native Poland and hastening the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"As we think of this wonderful man in his hour of trial we think not only of his contribution to the worldwide church and to Christianity, but we think of his contribution to the worldwide cause of freedom, which has helped shape the lives of all of us in the last 60 years," the conservative prime minister said.
The pope's illness dominated Australian newspapers. Sydney's Daily Telegraph urged readers "Pray for Him" on its front page, while Melbourne's Herald Sun said simply "Pope fades."
The Sydney Morning Herald paid tribute to the pope's dignified manner in a frontpage headline reading "Pope's public suffering nears its end amid sadness but serenity."
There were prayer vigils in the deeply religious Pacific island nations. In American Samoa, parliamentarians held a moment's silence after hearing inaccurate media reports that the pope was already dead.
The principal of American Samoa's Marist St. Francis Elementary School in Lepua, Sesilia Sala, said there was a somber mood on campus as thoughts centered on the ailing pontiff.
He said the children "are so sad that somebody who is very very important in the Catholic church is dying."
The pope's condition was front page news even in countries with small Catholic populations, as the world waits for developments on his fight for life.
In India, where a little more than two percent of the billion-plus population are Christians, the Hindu reported "Pope's condition worsens, enters terminal phase" while the Times of India said "Pope lives between life and immortality -- third longest papal reign nears end."
Even communist China, which bars its Catholics from recognizing the pope's authority and cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, was sympathetic to John Paul II's plight.
"We express our concern. We hope he will receive good medical treatment and his health can be restored," a foreign ministry official told reporters.
Three out of the five major newspapers in Shinto-dominated Japan carried front page reports on the state of the pope's health.
Catholics in overwhelmingly Buddhist Thailand organized an overnight vigil for the faithful to pray for him.
In Malaysia, Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Reverend Murphy Pakiam urged Catholics to keep praying for their church leader.
Our Lady of Sorrows Church parishioner John David told the Star newspaper in northern Penang state the pope had served the church well and he deserved peace.
a thwarted plot
A week before the pope visited Manila in 1995, police officials said they stumbled upon a plan by Muslim militants, led by convicted 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, to assassinate him using powerful bombs.
The al-Qaeda-linked militants rented a Manila apartment along a road where the pope would pass and near his official residence. But a fire erupted as Yousef mixed bomb ingredients, drawing police attention. Yousef escaped, but one of his companions, Abdul Hakim Murad, was arrested.
Police found in Yousef's room large amounts of explosives as well as copies of the Bible, priests' white cassocks and vestments which would have been used in the attack.
Delfin said the discovery of the plot "was a blessing" because other evidence in the room let police discover and thwart other terror plots, including the simultaneous bombing of US commercial airliners.
Murad also told interrogators of a plan to hijack a commercial plane that would be rammed into CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia -- one of the first omens of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he said.
"I feel sad seeing the news and seeing him in that condition," Delfin said, adding that he felt fulfilled that he once helped save the pope's life.
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