The government and opposition yesterday paid homage to His Holiness the late Pope John Paul II, who Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and opposition leader Alfred Sant described as a “great man” in their speeches before parliament adjourned for one week in honour of the late Pope.

Prime Minister Gonzi said Pope John Paul II was instrumental in the restoration of peace, solidarity and democracy among nations as well as a supreme and tireless advocate in the battle against poverty, the struggle for justice, the protection of human life and the promotion of human dignity.

Dr Gonzi said that as Maltese, we should remember the Pope’s two messages he had for us as a nation in the two visits he paid to this country in 1990 and then again in 2001.

The first, he said, was that the Maltese should continue upholding the values in which they have always believed, especially the Christian values on which their lives have been based.

Dr Gonzi said this should be done not only in Malta but also by the Maltese in the various institutions where Malta is represented, particularly in Europe.

Another message the late Pope had for the Maltese was that we should look more for our common ground than for what divides us as a nation.

Dr Gonzi said the Pope was one of the greatest leaders of the past century, because he was in constant contact with the people.

He felt comfortable with everyone, making no distinctions. “He had a message for everyone, be it political leaders or the common and poor people”, said Dr Gonzi.

“That is what made him relevant and a great inspiration, not only to Catholics but to the world,” he said.

Dr Gonzi said Pope John Paul II was a great man who had established a number of firsts in his papacy, being the first Pope to pray in a synagogue and in a mosque.

Moreover, Dr Gonzi said, Pope John Paul II led the Church in an extraordinary manner, with his constant belief and promotion of human dignity as the base of his papacy, always insisting that this should be safeguarded at all times.

He said the Pope was instrumental in the promotion of peace, with his ideal that there is no peace without justice and no justice without forgiveness.

Dr Sant said the Pope, just like his own father, had suffered for a considerable number of years from an illness for which there was no cure but had nevertheless carried out his papacy marvellously.

He described the Pope as a “hero” who lived his life with integrity and who, like no other Pope – with the exception of Pope John XXIII – had surpassed the limits of his predecessors.

Dr Sant also mentioned decisions which hurt many people. As examples he mentioned the way he tackled the homosexuality issue and the issue of contraception. Notwithstanding this, he was still a holy person. At the end of his speech, Dr Sant read out a translation of a poem Pope John Paul II wrote when he was working in a quarry in Poland.