A woman lights a candle for the late Pope John Paul II at Quiapo church in the Philippine capital Manila. Mourning for the pontiff transcended religious barriers in Asia with flags lowered to half mast from Hindu India to Australia, Buddhist Thailand to the staunchly Catholic Philippines(AFP photo)

BEIJING, April 4 -- The world is paying homage to Pope John Paul II who died at the age of 84. Political leaders, Cardinals and Catholics across the globe are sending messages of condolence after the Pontiff's death.

    After suffering heart and kidney failure and other ailments, Pople John Paul II died on Saturday evening in his Vatican apartment.

    UN chief Kofi Annan praised the Pope as a tireless advocate of peace and a pioneer of inter-faith dialogue.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that whether people were religious or not they admired the Pope. "What people could see in Pope John Paul was a man of profound spiritual faith."

    World leaders from countries including France, Germany, Russia, India and the Middle East are paying their tributes to the Pope.

    In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao expressed China's condolences over the Pope's death.

    Catholics across the world are waiting to see who will succeed the late pontiff as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

    Cardinal Simon Pimenta, from Bombay said: "He will go down in history as one of the great Popes we've had."

    Meanwhile, the world's Catholics are holding masses around the world to mourn their spiritual leader.

    In a Beijing's church, many have prayed for the Pope and drew inspiration from his death.

    "I want to shoulder the sorrow with others. As a Catholic, I learn from the Pople how to love and forgive others."

    The Catholic Patriotic Association of China and the Chinese Catholic Bishops College sent a telegram to the Vatican yesterday morning expressing their deep condolences.

    Father Liu Bainian is the vice chairman of the The Catholic Patriotic Association of China.

    "Pope John Paul II has devoted his whole life to Christ and the church. He also worked for world peace."

    Inside the Vatican, cardinals made preparations for the nine days of mourning that follow a Pope's death, and for the conclave that will be called later this month to elect a successor.

    Italy's ANSA news agency, citing reliable sources, said the funeral will take place on Thursday at the earliest.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)