MOSCOW, April 4 (UPI) -- In Moscow -- a city Pope John Paul II could never visit -- Catholics and non-Catholics alike have paid their respects to the deceased pontiff.
Hundreds of people attended a special mass Sunday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, The Moscow Times reported Monday.
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, leader of Russia's 600,000 Catholics, told the congregation that John Paul had been "the voice of East Europeans under communism."
"I have always thought well of him," said Yelena, an elderly Russian Orthodox believer who placed flowers next to the pope's photograph in the cathedral. "He was so kind; let's hope God sends another like him."
Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church who had prevented John Paul from visiting Russia, also paid tribute to the pope in a letter to the Vatican, Interfax reported.
President Vladimir Putin, who met the pope most recently in the Vatican in 2003, called him "a wise and understanding man who was open for dialogue."
Russia's chief rabbi, Berl Lazar, said he felt deep sorrow at John Paul's death, and Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, expressed his condolences on behalf of the country's Muslims, RIA-Novosti reported.
