In North End, they recall shepherd known as 'Il Papa'

From Dorchester to the Common and from the South End to the North End, Bostonians marked the first full day of mourning for Pope John Paul II yesterday with flowers and candles, prayers and tears.

In churches, bells tolled for the Holy Father and priests praised his life and work, while on sidewalks and in living rooms, Catholics and non-Catholics alike talked about the loss of a great man, a spiritual leader who identified with the common people and built bridges across religious and political divides.

Some spoke about feeling a certain quietness, a strangeness that comes with witnessing a historical event, a monumental change in the world that leaves uncertainty about what -- or who -- will come next.

''All of a sudden, it seemed like the world stopped, like when [President] John F. Kennedy died," said Anna Kurpieski, a 69-year-old Dorchester resident and choir member at Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish. ''With all the bad things going on in the world, everybody snapped right back to honor this man."

During Sunday Mass at Blessed Mother Teresa, the Rev. Ed McMahon cautioned parishioners against losing sight of the pope's humanity. With media coverage touting the great deeds of his papacy, McMahon said it may be easy to forget the pope was once just a man named Karol Wojtyla.

''The danger is that as we look upon this enormous historical presence in our midst, we will begin to treat him like Jesus -- with distance -- like someone who towers over us," he said. ''There ought to be no distance between any of us. We're all in this together, some given extraordinary and significant work and some given work that will be unknown to anyone but God."

At the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End, where Governor Mitt Romney joined hundreds of people at a special Mass, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley also praised the pope's humanity, describing him as a poet, laborer, athlete, and philosopher who had deep loyalties and lasting friendships. He also said John Paul II was a ''fun person" who ''liked to tease and be teased."

''That was one reason why young people were so attracted to him," O'Malley said. ''He had a great capacity to relate to people."

John Paul II's humanity was on display yesterday in the North End, where workers at Mike's Pastry served up cannoli and florentines next to a gold-framed photo of the pope and a bouquet of three dozen red roses on the bakery counter. Next door at Cafe Vittoria, posterboards handlettered with the words ''Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005" hung in the windows with pictures of the pope's visit to Boston in 1979.

Across Hanover Street, conversations between native North Enders that usually center on gossip and the dissolving Italian culture in the neighborhood turned instead to the man they knew as ''Il Papa."

''Everybody feels sorry for the pope's death, Catholic or not," said Salvatore Garofalo, who was chatting with friends on the sidewalk.

They credited John Paul II for the fall of the Soviet Union, for peace in South America, and for showing Italians that a successful pope doesn't necessarily have to be, well, Italian.

''Now it doesn't matter any more," Garofalo said. ''As long as he's a good person who does good things."

Connie Gandolfo, a Watertown resident who returned to the North End yesterday to visit the site of her father's Commercial Street store, which has been converted to condominums, said that when John Paul II was elected in 1978, she was ''devastated."

''He wasn't Italian, and I remember saying, 'I just hope he does a good job,' " Gandolfo, 73, said. ''Well, he did. He did do a good job."

At Emmanuel College in the Fenway, students reflected on the passing of the only leader of the Catholic Church that they have ever known. They described Pope John Paul II as a shepherd who connected to today's youth and took steps to embrace disenfranchised communities.

''As a Hispanic, it meant a lot to me when the pope visited Cuba," said freshman Ina Martinez. ''I really admired the work he did to reach out to other people."

Near the Catholic school's chapel, photographs and biographies of the pope adorned a table and in a small book, students inscribed notes of prayer, including: ''Watch over our pope today and gracefully bring him home."

As a brisk wind whipped across Boston Common yesterday, Caroline O'Brien Bulger wiped away tears as she gazed at the white lilies, purple roses, and candles mourners had placed at a monument commemorating John Paul II's visit to Boston in 1979.

Bulger said she was a Harvard University student at the time. She and several friends had made black T-shirts emblazoned with white letters: ''The Pope: Tour of America" -- reminiscent of a rock 'n' roll tour of the time -- and wore them in the pouring rain to the Mass the pope celebrated on the Common.

''We were being kind of fresh. I didn't appreciate the significance of his visit then," she said. ''But I have learned so much from the pope since."

Belmont resident Peter Flaherty brought his two young sons, William, 4, and Peter, 6, to the Common monument, where they placed orange daisies and yellow and purple roses.

''I wanted to have my sons remember this pope as being someone who cared very much for the children of the world because he cared very much for the future of the world," Flaherty said.

At Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, parishioners lined up after Mass yesterday to sign a book of prayers that church leaders plan to send either to Rome or to John Paul II's birthplace in Poland.

''Still hear my prayers," wrote 52-year-old Dorchester resident Maryanne Rooney.

A few feet away, Jack Zeletsky smiled when he talked about the death that has captured the world's attention.

''We've got one more guardian angel up there looking out for us," he said. ''And what better man to do that than him."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com