PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP PHOTO Pope John Paul II (R) and U.S. President George W. Bush pose in the " Sala of Svizzeri " during their meeting at the Pontiff's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo 23 July 2001. John Paul II upbraided visiting Bush on Monday for his support for the death penalty, saying the practice does not belong in "a free and virtuous society".

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP PHOTO Pope John Paul II (L) shakes hands with US President George W. Bush as he arrives at the Pontiff's summer residence in Castelgandolfo, 23 July 2001. John Paul II upbraided visiting Bush on Monday for his support for the death penalty, saying the practice does not belong in "a free and virtuous society".

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP Pope John Paul II salutes Cardinal Lubomyr Husar in front of more than one million of pilgrims during a Divine Liturgy with beatifications in Lviv, 27June 2001, on the last day of his five-day visit in Ukraine. One million Catholics gathered at the racecourse here as Pope John Paul II beatified 28 martyrs during the final mass of his controversial visit to the former Soviet Republic. AFP PHOTO POOL GABRIEL BOUYS

PHOTO: Wojtek Laski/East News 94. podroz apostolska papieza Jana Pawla II, Ukraina, 25.06.2001, Kijow. N/z: naczelny rabin Ukrainy Yaakov Dov Bleich i papiez Jan Pawel II na terenie niemieckiego nazistowskiego obozu koncentracyjnego o nazwie - Babi Jar, mieszczacego sie w obrebie Kijowa JUNE 25, 2001, BABYN YAR in KYIV, UKRAINE POPE VISITS A PLACE OF 200,000 JEWS BURIED Pope John Paul II and with Yaakov Dov Bleich, Ukrainian chief rabbi at the monument of Babi Yar, a ravine where up to 200,000 Jews and others were gunned down and buried in mass graves during World War II, in Ukraine's capital Kyiv.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP Pope John Paul II (R) embrace Greek Orthodox Patriarch Hazim IV during a ceremony at the Mariamidiyeh church in Damascus 05 May 2001. AFP PHOTO/POOL/MASSIMO SAMBUCETTI

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (L), his wife Nazek (R) and children Hend (2nd L) and Bahaa, meet with Pope John Paul II 23 April 2001 in the Vatican. Hariri is on a tour which will also take him to the United States, Canada and France. AFP PHOTO/Ayman TRAWI

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider (L) presents Pope John Paul II with the certificate for the Christmas tree from Haider's home province of Carinthia which adorns St Peters Square during the audience 16 December 2000. Haider met the 80-year-old Pontiff and left the Vatican clutching the Pontiff's World Peace Day message, condemning racism and xenophobia. AFP PHOTO VATICAN POOL/ARTURO MARI

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP Pope John Paul II poses with the Harlem Globe Trotters basketball team players 29 November 2000 after his weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican,. AFP PHOTO GABRIEL BOUYS

Pope John Paul II poses with Nobel Peace Prize laureates and the mayor of Rome Francesco Rutelli, fifth from right, after a special audience at the Vatican, Sunday, November 12, 2000. The Nobel laureates have been holding a peace summit in Rome. Sixth from left, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. (AP Photo/Arturo Mari/HO)

Pope John Paul II is presented with a gift from Italian team Bari's South African player Philemon Masinga (L) after a commemorative soccer match at the Olympic Stadium in Rome 29 October 2000. Looking on is the Italian Soccer President Franco Carraro.

Pope John Paul II touches the ball given to him by Rome's forward Argentinean Batistuta (L) 29 October 2000 while Italian Soccer President Franco Carraro at back smiles at the Olympic Stadium in Rome after the soccer match between the Italian national team and a team of foreign stars who play in the Italian soccer league. The event was part of a sporting jubilee during which he called on athletes to return to important values and to use sport to overcome language and race barriers. AFP PHOTO EPA-POOL/OSSERVATORE ROMANO

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP PAPIEZ JAN PAWEL II I KROLOWA ANGLII ELZBIETA II WATYKAN 17/10/2000 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with Pope John Paul II during an audience at the Vatican in Rome, 17 October 2000. Dressed in black and wearing a veil, the Queen was greeted by the 80-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the door of his study. During a private meeting lasting 20 minutes, they are thought to have discussed progress towards Christian unity and the troubles in Northern Ireland. The Queen arrived in Rome Monday at the start of four day State visit to Italy.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP PAPIEZ JAN PAWEL II I KROLOWA ANGLII ELZBIETA II WATYKAN 17/10/2000 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II exchanges gifts with Pope John Paul II whilst the Duke Of Edinburgh looks on during an audience at the Vatican in Rome, Italy, 17 October 2000. Dressed in black and wearing a veil, the Queen was greeted by the 80-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the door of his study. During a private meeting lasting 20 minutes, they are thought to have discussed progress towards Christian unity and the troubles in Northern Ireland. The Queen arrived in Rome Monday at the start of four day State visit to Italy.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS PREZYDENT ROSJI WLADIMIR PUTIN OTRZYMUJE PREZENT OD PAPIEZA JANA PAWLA II PODCZAS AUDIENCJI W WATYKANIE Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) receives a gift from Pope John Paul II during the audience in the Vatican 05 June 2000. Putin met earlier with Italian Premier Giuliano Amato and called on the European Union and NATO to join forces with Moscow and set up a joint anti-missile shield.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS PREZYDENT ROSJI WLADIMIR PUTIN NA AUDIENCJI U PAPIEZA JANA PAWLA II W WATYKANIE Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with Pope John Paul II during the audience in the Vatican 05 June 2000. Putin met earlier with Italian Premier Giuliano Amato and called on the European Union and NATO to join forces with Moscow and set up a joint anti-missile shield.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS PAPIEZ JAN PAWEL II I SIOSTRA ZAKONNA MARIA LUCIA. WIZYTA JANA PAWLA II W FATIMIE ZWIAZANA Z BEATYFIKACJA DWOJGA PASTUSZKOW JACINTY I FRANCISCO MARTO, SWIADKOW CUDU. Pope John Paul II (R) meets Sister Santa Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart in Fatima 13 May 2000. Pope John Paul II is in Portugal for the beatification of the two dead shepherds children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, who where witness of the Fatima miracle (the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared to the children and gives them three messages) in 1917 along with her cousin Lucia Dos Santos, who is now 93-year-old and lives as a nun under the name of Sister Santa Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE)

PHOTO: EAST NEWS/AFP (FILES) -- File picture dated 26 March 2000 shows Pope John Paul II posing for a photo with Israeli President Ezer Weizman (2nd R), his wife Reuma (R), Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his wife Nava (L) during his departure ceremony at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. Roman Catholics in the Holy Land were holding anxious prayer vigils for Pope John Paul II after the Vatican announced he had received the last rites after suffering a heart attack. AFP PHOTO/SVEN NACKSTRAND

PHOTO: EAST NEWS PIELGRZYMKA PAPIEZA DO ZIEMI SWIETEJ: SPOTKANIE JANA PAWLA II I PATRIARCHY KOSCIOLA STAROGRECKIEGO DIODOROSA I W JEROZOLIMIE Pope John Paul II meets with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Diodoros I, at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in the Old City of Jerusalem, 25 March 2000. The pontiff was on the penultimate day of six-day tour of the Holy Land.

PHOTO: EAST NEWS PIELGRZYMKA JANA PAWLA II DO ZIEMI SWIETEJ: PAPIEZ NA SPOTKANIU INTER-RELIGIJNYM Z RABINEM ASZKENAZYJSKIM YISRAELEM ALUEM I ISLAMSKIM NACZELNYM SEDZIA SZARIACKIM TATZIREM TAMIMI W JEROZOLIMIE. Chief Rabbi Israel Lau (L) leans towards Pope John Paul II during an interfaith meeting at Notre Dame in Jerusalem 23 March 2000. Lau and Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Tatzir Tamimi issued stinging, rival claims to Jerusalem during the forum with the pontiff, which was designed to promote religious reconciliation. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE)

PHOTO: EAST NEWS PIELGRZYMKA JANA PAWLA II DO ZIEMI SWIETEJ: PAPIEZ NA SPOTKANIU INTER-RELIGIJNYM Z RABINEM ASZKENAZYJSKIM YISRAELEM ALUEM I ISLAMSKIM NACZELNYM SEDZIA SZARIACKIM TATZIREM TAMIMI W JEROZOLIMIE. Pope John Paul II sits with Chief Rabbi Israel Lau (L) and Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Tatzir Tamimi (R) under a mural of the Old City of Jerusalem during an interfaith meeting at Notre Dame in Jerusalem 23 March 2000. Lau and Tamimi issued stinging, rival claims to Jerusalem during the forum with the pontiff, which was designed to promote religious reconciliation. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE)