PARIS - The world's press hailed Pope John Paul II's funeral as a "last miracle" that lured millions, perhaps billions, of believers and non-believers worldwide and brought together historic enemies at the Vatican.
But many of Saturday's papers also cast a more caustic eye at the pomp and ceremony and gloried in the most awkward encounters.
In the Middle East, a handshake between Israeli President Moshe Katzav and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad grabbed the headlines. "Old foes in historic handshake at Vatican," ran the front-page headline in Beirut's The Daily Star.
The Israeli head of state also spoke briefly to Iranian leader Mohammad Khatami, Israeli public radio said. Khatami however, later "strongly denied" he had either shaken hands or spoken to the Israeli president.
Many front pages displayed French President Jacques Chirac elegantly kissing the hand of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"The world came together in peace around the pope's coffin," blazoned the Austrian tabloid Kroenezeitung.
In Budapest, the left-wing daily Nepszava wrote:
"Yesterday, on St Peter's Square everyone was equal. Enemies temporarily forgave each other, forgot the crimes of the other. If only for a few hours, but Pope John Paul II's foremost pursuit of bringing reconciliation to people was realized."
In Turkey, the daily Hurriyet enthused: "His last miracle -- the pope's funeral brings enemies together."
Newspapers in the Philippines, Roman Catholicism's biggest outpost in Asia, bid a fond farewell to the Polish pope, filling their front pages with huge photos of the funeral mass and echoing popular calls for his sainthood.
"Goodbye, John Paul -- Make him a saint immediately," a headline in the Malaya read.
British newspapers were not so kind.
"What a week for pomp and flummery," said The Independent.
On the day of Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles, the paper noted that Charles, as the future head of state and of the Church of England, was forced to abide by its rules and was therefore barred from remarrying in a church.
"The coincidence of this week's worldwide audience for a conservative pope and today's royal wedding highlights the absurdity of the prince's predicament. If proof were still needed that it was time to disestablish the Church of England, this was it. The attachment of Church and state in this country is long out of date; it needs to be abolished."
The biggest scandal in the British press was a picture of Charles shaking hands with outcast Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
"Mr Mugabe, I presume," headlined the Independent over a picture of the encounter, captioned: "Fury as Charles accepts 'a hand stained with blood'." The paper explained that, according to his aides, the prince had been caught by surprise by Mugabe's outstretched hand.
The Guardian said it was "shameful" that Mugabe had ignored European Union travel sanctions imposed because of his disrespect for democracy.
"But it was heartening to see the leaders of Muslim Syria and Iran exchanging greetings with the president of Israel, representing Jews thankful to this remarkable Polish pontiff for soothing the pain of centuries of Christian prejudice.
"Gestures such as these helped remind us that it is, after all, in this world that the problems of mankind are best settled."
The sheer scale of the occasion impressed many papers.
As billions around the world tuned into the ceremony, "the idea of a Godless age suddenly seemed less convincing," said the Daily Telegraph.
The Financial Times was not won over.
"That the sheer media-ecstasy of the response has swamped the stern, illiberal and anti-modern challenge John Paul posed is, of course, an outcome that the late pontiff would have considered a tragedy."

04/09/2005 10:11 GMT