Mr. Speaker, throughout my life, from when Pope John Paul II was elected pope, we watched him travel to a record number of countries. I think the number was 129 countries. We watched him going before and praying with millions and millions of people. Imagine having a mass in a country such as Manila with five million people attending. Considering the size of Toronto in 2002, imagine having 800,000 people in one location coming to see him and pray with him.
This was a pope who will go down in history as not only one of the greatest popes, but one of the greatest world leaders, somebody who did try to reach out to different communities and different religions and show respect. He did not go around saying that the Roman Catholic Church was right and other religions were wrong. He went around saying let us work together and try to be good, help and respect one another and show love and compassion. This is a pope who is missed, and this is a pope who will always be remembered. In terms of the Roman Catholic Church, he is already on his way to becoming a saint. This is not simply an ordinary pope.