[NYer]

One of the leaders of the Oriental churches bends down to retrieve a cardinal's skull cap, blown off in the wind, during the funeral mass for Pope John Paul II in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, April 8, 2005. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A priest leads a mass commemorating the late Pope John Paul II at the Holy Family Church in Ramallah April 8, 2005. The poor and the powerful of the earth rubbed shoulders to say their last goodbye to Pope John Paul on Friday as the Vatican staged one of the most momentous funerals in history for the Polish Pontiff. REUTERS/Loay Abu Haykel

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[Siobhan]

He interpreted for us the paschal mystery as a mystery of divine mercy. In his last book, he wrote: The limit imposed upon evil "is ultimately Divine Mercy" ("Memory and Identity," p. 60-61). And reflecting on the assassination attempt, he said: "In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order: the order of love. ... It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with the flame of love and draws forth even from sin a great flowering of good." Impelled by this vision, the pope suffered and loved in communion with Christ, and that is why the message of his suffering and his silence proved so eloquent and so fruitful.