The Pope's love and tireless efforts for peace in the world, his love of all divine faiths, his contribution to the end of the Cold War, his abhorrence of despotic regimes, his dismay over unilateralism in the world, his respect for human rights and the maintenance of social justice, his opposition to excessive capitalism and his campaign to defend human dignity made him one of the most known of the world's figures.

John Paul II died on Saturday April 2, 2005, after a long illness, at age 84.

He visited over 120 countries during his life, calling for world peace and promoting unity among all nations, regardless of their race, nationality or faith.

In March 2000, he made a long-desired trip to Palestine (the Holy Land), where he called for peace in the Middle East. The Pope lamented Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, and he defended the rights of Palestinians to enjoy a peace and have an independent state.

In his visit to Damascus in May 2001, he urged Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights, occupied in 1967. The Pope appealed for all parties to seek a lasting peace and a new attitude of understanding, based on international law.

All of these suggestions went unheeded by Israel.

He tried desperately to prevent the U.S. attack against Iraq in 2003. He sent peace envoys to both President Bush and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

He knew that civilians, including children, would be the biggest victims of the war in Iraq.

"I belong to that generation that remembers well, that has experienced, and thanks to God survived the Second World War. That is why I also have the duty to remind all those young people who have not had that experience, to remember and to say: 'Never again war!"'

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the Pope was a man of peace and had been a great supporter of the United Nations. "He was extremely concerned about the world we live in, and like me, he also felt that in war, all are losers."

In his visit to Havana in January 1998, the Pope condemned the economic embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States, describing it as an indiscriminate measure that hurt the poor.

As a committed spiritual leader of the world's more than a billion Roman Catholics, he opposed moral degradation and had great respect for human dignity.

Even those leaders who acted against the wishes and advice of the Pope expressed regret over his death. For instance, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described Pope as a man of peace, while the policies that his country has been following over the years are completely against peace.

In a world in which not one day passes without bloodshed and violations of international law, we hope that the time will come when the wishes of Pope [John Paul II] will become a reality.