Mourning Catholics flock to churches
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Devout Catholics across Indonesia mourned the passing of Pope John Paul II on Sunday morning, with many lowering flags to half mast and ringing the church bells before attending requiem masses in various churches.
Thousands of people packed the Cathedral in Jakarta, where Julius Cardinal Darmaatmadja led a requiem mass to morn the death of John Paul II, who visited Indonesia in 1989. Darmaatmadja will leave for the Vatican on Monday to attend a conclave to decide on a new pope.
Since the cathedral's capacity is only 1,500 people, many other churchgoers had to sit on newspapers spread on the floor around the building.
"The pope was concerned very much for Indonesia. Each time he got news of another conflict, riot or natural disaster here, he sent letters of sympathy and prayed for the end to those ordeals," Darmaatmadja said in his sermon.
"He paid attention to Indonesia -- not only his Catholic followers here, but all the people," he said, while calling the pope "the great figure in this century".
Darmaatmadja said the pope was particularly concerned with Indonesia's problems of poverty and the disparity of wealth.
Asked about the pope's successor, Darmaatmadja later stated that the cardinals at the conclave would do well to find a great man like Pope John Paul II.
In Papua province, mourners lowered the red and white flag to half mast in front of the Cathedral Church Dok V in Jayapura to express their condolences.
Around 2,500 Catholics in the city attended the requiem mass led by Father Yan Youw, while many others also held similar services in other churches across the province, including St. Petrus-Paulus church, Kotaraja Savior church, Abepura Good Shepard and Waena the Reedemer church.
Tears were seen running down the cheeks of some churchgoers in Semarang, Central Java, when Priest Budi told them that the pope had died.
"We feel grief over the passing of Pope John Paul II as he has been summoned by our God in heaven today," Budi was quoted by Antara as saying in his sermon at the Semarang Cathedral.
He added that a special mass to pray for the late pontiff would be held each day this week.
"He was a modest spiritual leader and he did so much during his 26-year papacy. He had good relations with other religious leaders and he had also asked for forgiveness for old sins the churches had made decades ago," Budi said.
In East Nusa Tenggara, a predominantly Catholic province, there were also expressions of deep sadness over the pope's passing.
Some people were shocked and crying hysterically on Sunday morning when they heard the news.
Church bells rang immediately to honor him, summoning people to attend the church to pray for him.
"Pope John Paul II, our leader, has died. Let us pray to God that he may rest in peace in heaven," Father Herman Yosef said during a mass at St. Thomas Morus Centrum in Maumere on Flores island.
Young priests from the Ritapiret Seminary School in Maumere also took a quiet moment for prayers for John Paul II. The pope spent a night at the seminary during his visit to the town in October 1989.
The first non-Italian pope in 455 years, the pope died in his bed at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 a.m. Sunday in Jakarta), surrounded by his closest aides. The exact cause of the death was not given but his health had deteriorated steadily over the past decade with the onset of Parkinson's Disease and arthritis.