Church leaders send message of sympathy

Christian churches: The Church of Ireland primate of All-Ireland, Archbishop Dr Robin Eames, expressed his deepest sympathy to Roman Catholics yesterday on the death of Pope John Paul.

"As our Roman Catholic friends mourn his death we assure them of our thoughts and prayers at this sad time for their world-wide church," he said.

In a message of sympathy to the papal nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto, and the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev John Neill, said the Pope had been "truly a peacemaker who followed in the steps of the Prince of Peace".

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Ken Newell, conveyed his church's "condolences to our fellow country men and women to whom the death of Pope John Paul has brought great sadness".

The president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Brian Fletcher, said Pope John Paul had been "a charismatic figure whose reign was as influential as it was long". The tragedy for him had been "that his brilliant intellect became trapped in a frail and failing body and yet he became an icon for patient suffering," he said.

Mr Seán Mullan of Evangelical Alliance Ireland said that "while differing on many issues, evangelicals share many of the values he championed, especially his commitment to the value and dignity of human life. We extend our sympathies to Catholics around the world who have lost a great leader".

On behalf of the Church of Ireland's committee for Christian unity, the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, Right Rev Peter Barrett,said "the courage and integrity of his faith was evident to all in the midst of the burdens and responsibilities he faced during his pontificate," he said.

The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross Right Rev Paul Colton said all of many Christian denominations would "remember with awe his energy in ministry, as well as the manifest confidence and simplicity of his faith".