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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

When Pope John Paul II died April 2, the world mourned. Millions of people expressed their feelings by visiting the Vatican, sometimes standing for hours in a line to pay their last respects.

Owen Sweeney III/Catholic Review

Cardinal William H. Keeler, at podium, called together members of the area?s interfaith community, including Bishop John R. Schol, right, to celebrate the legacy of Pope John Paul II.

Millions of other people prayed for the pope and for the future of the Roman Catholic Church in their own ways. In Baltimore, two days after the pope's death, Cardinal William H. Keeler led an interfaith prayer service at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, attended by Bishop John R. Schol, the United Methodist bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

The interfaith prayer service celebrated the pope's servanthood and courageous leadership during his life. Joining Bishop Schol in prayer were Rabbi Joel H. Zaiman of the Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Pikesville, the Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Imam Earl El-Amin, resident imam of the Muslim Community Cultural Center of Baltimore, and more than 250 others from a broad range of religious traditions.

Recalling the 84-year-old pope, Bishop Schol mourned the passing of a faithful servant of God whose ministry impacted the world. But he also rejoiced in the promise of resurrection, in which Pope John Paul II so fervently believed, and in the transforming power of faith.

In a letter to the churches of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, the bishop recalled how Roman Catholicism found its first home in the American colonies in Baltimore 360 years ago and how 221 years ago Methodism was also planted in Baltimore as a church in the New World.

Recognizing Baltimore's historic importance, the pope visited Baltimore in 1995 and, with the sign of the cross, transformed Oriole Park at Camden Yards, into an outdoor cathedral, Cardinal Keeler said.

Bishop Schol noted that several of the themes that Pope John Paul II preached about in his visit to Baltimore are being discussed among United Methodists today as the conference sets out on its Discipleship Adventure.

' Faith is always demanding, because faith leads us beyond ourselves. It leads us directly to God,' said the pope. 'Faith also imparts a vision of life's purpose and stimulates us to action. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a private opinion, a remote spiritual ideal, or a mere program for personal growth. The Gospel is the power which can transform the world!'

In his letter, Bishop Schol called upon United Methodists to embrace this 'new evangelism by working together with brothers and sisters to deepen faith and serve the world.'

'May we all be so bold as to live a Christ-like life,' the bishop concluded.

Several other United Methodists expressed their loss at Pope John Paul's death.

According to Bishop William B. Oden, ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops, John Paul II personified the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter-century. 'He embodied its conflicts, its strengths and weaknesses, and its struggles.

'Without a doubt, he will be seen as one of Catholicism's greatest popes ?personable, charismatic and clear about his vision of the church,' Oden added.

'Still, he left a legacy of many unresolved issues, including women in the priesthood, celibacy and the call for greater lay involvement in decision making.'

Throughout the region on April 2, United Methodist congregations joined those across the globe in offering prayers of sorrow and of hope for the future of the Roman Catholic Church as it begins to choose its 264th pope.

The Baltimore Sun quoted members of Grace UMC in Baltimore in a story, such as Karen Seybold, who called the pope 'a blessing to all Christians.'

The day after the interreligious prayer service, Cardinal Keeler and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., flew to the Vatican to join the world's 115 other cardinals as they prepared to elect the next pontiff.

Christopher Gaul, senior staff correspondent of the Catholic Review, and the United Methodist News Service, contributed to this story.