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Obama Statement on the Death of Pope John Paul II

Saturday, April 2, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green (312) 886-3506
Date: April 2, 2005

Obama Statement on the Death of Pope John Paul II

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the death of Pope John Paul II.

"Pope John Paul II was a source of strength and a beacon of faith to millions who heeded his call to fill our world and our lives with more kindness and more justice.

"In his own life, he became the change he sought through his tireless humanitarian efforts to defend human rights where they were threatened and eradicate poverty where it existed. And he will be remembered with gratitude for his role in bringing about the end of communism, as he fought to spread the freedom he saw so many denied while growing up in Poland.

"His love for his neighbor knew no bounds of religion or nationality, and even as he grew ill and frail in his later years, nothing would prevent him from preaching that love to all who would listen.

"I mourn Pope John Paul's passing, and my thoughts and prayers are with the Catholic Church and with his family of faithful followers in their time of sorrow. May he rest in the eternal peace he always wished for all of us."

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