IRELAND: President McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will attend a Mass of Remembrance for Pope John Paul at Dublin's Pro-Cathedral this evening at 5.45.
It will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, in the presence of the papal nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto.
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev John Neill, will also attend "to give thanks for the life and ministry of Pope John Paul II and to share in the grief of our Roman Catholic friends and neighbours."
Also present will be Dublin's Lord Mayor, Cllr Michael Conaghan, and members of the diplomatic corps.
In Armagh last night the Northern Secretary, Paul Murphy, the SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, and Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan attended a Mass for the Pope in St Patrick's Cathedral.
It was celebrated by the Catholic primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, with the papal nuncio also present.
In his homily Archbishop Brady said of the Pope "we honour his life, his death, his untiring service and his extraordinary legacy. Perhaps we could take to heart again those words with which he greeted us as he began his ministry, which he repeated at he carried us across the threshold of hope into a new millennium - 'Open wide your hearts to Christ. Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid!'."
Remarking on the Pope's closeness to God, Archbishop Brady speculated "perhaps it was the broken heart of a young boy who had lost his mother and only brother at such a young age.
"Perhaps it was his experience of the Nazi occupation and war in Poland, the cruel treatment of his many Jewish friends in the holocaust, or the experience of the oppressive and lifeless impact of atheistic communism on the lives of his fellow Poles."
But "whatever it was, it was clear that this was a man who, like Mary, had learnt at a very young age to trust in the intimacy of God which he had first experienced in the silence of contemplation and prayer," he said.
Cardinal Desmond Connell will fly out to Rome today. Expected to join him there for the funeral in coming days are Cardinal Cahal Daly, the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Seán Brady, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, Bishop John Magee of Cloyne, and Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe.
Patriarch Alexis of the Russian Orthodox Church has expressed his condolences and sympathy to Ireland's Roman Catholics on the death of Pope John Paul.
Fr George Zavarshinsky, based at the Russian Orthodox Church in Dublin's Harold's Cross, also praised Pope John Paul's commitment and work.
Fr Ireneu Craciun of the Greek Orthodox Church in Dublin said "no Pope has spoken about the Orthodox Church as this Pope did. Such was the very positive constructive, and friendly relation of Pope John Paul II with the Orthodox Church throughout his pontificate."
