2ND LD: Bush mourns Pope John Paul II as 'a hero for the ages'

Asian Economic News, April 4, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 2 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH NEW YORK MAYOR BLOOMBERG'S STATEMENT IN 6TH-7TH GRAFS)

U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura on Saturday mourned Pope John Paul II as ''a hero for the ages.''

''Laura and I join people across the Earth in mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II,'' Bush said in a brief statement. ''The Catholic Church has lost its shepherd, the world has lost a champion of human freedom, and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home.''

''We're grateful to God for sending such a man, a son of Poland, who became the Bishop of Rome, and a hero for the ages,'' the president said.

''Pope John Paul II left the throne of St. Peter in the same way he ascended to it -- as a witness to the dignity of human life,'' Bush said. ''In his native Poland, that witness launched a democratic revolution that swept Eastern Europe and changed the course of history.''

At St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, Cardinal Edward Egan called the pope ''a great and courageous man.''

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg mourned the pope as ''a steady beacon of light in our often dark and tumultuous world.''

''New Yorkers were honored to host John Paul twice during his papacy, and those will always be remembered as great days for our city,'' he said. ''With his passing, Roman Catholics have lost an inspiring spiritual leader, and the world has lost a loving and devoted friend.''