Pope John Paul II Will Be Seen as a "Major Historical Figure"

3.17.17pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 5th Apr 2005

Hampshire MEP and Eastleigh parliamentary candidate Chris Huhne said that Pope John Paul II was not merely a great spiritual leader for Roman Catholics and the wider Christian community but would also come to be seen a major historical figure.

"The election of Karol Wojtyla as the first Polish pope in 1978 had a key influence in kindling the beginnings of the Solidarity movement in Poland, which in turn became the first wave of the resistance to Communist rule all over central and eastern Europe.

"Pope John Paul II will come to be seen as the major historical figure who gave central and eastern Europeans hope that they could rejoin the free European family of democratic nations. I am just pleased that the Pope who did so much for European freedom lived to see his beloved country join the European Union as a fully fledged democracy last year" said Mr Huhne.