Normally teeming streets in Africa emptied yesterday as Catholics gathered around tele-visions to watch the burial in Rome of Pope John Paul, a man many on the struggling continent considered a friend.
In the Seychelles, a TV viewer remarked: "The whole world seems to have come to a standstill. This man was great."
State television broadcast the funeral live in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, the Seychelles, Cameroon, South Africa, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar. The Seychelles, Malawi, the Congo and the DRC declared a national day of mourning.
Africa has the fastest-growing Catholic population in the world.
Many on the continent have been in mourning for the Pope, whose own suffering through ill health was seen as an inspiration for those whose daily life is a struggle for survival.
"He helped very much. He fought for the rights of the weak," said Omar Samad, who had just set up television screens outside the Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi. "He was a man of God ... he touched so many lives," said Thomas Obare, who followed the funeral while selling T-shirts commemorating the Pope.
African leaders praised John Paul's support for the poor and oppressed, his mission to promote peace and his apology for the slave trade.
The Pope's opposition to the use of condoms in the continent worst hit by Aids generated criticism, particularly by western health campaigners. But his preference for abstinence as a solution has been echoed by many African governments.
Malawi's four million Catholics remember the Pope for inspiring the local church to speak out against the dictatorship of former president Hastings Banda.