MEXICO CITY - Latin America's Catholics held vigils and masses on Friday to mark the funeral of Pope John Paul II as they rekindled their faith by honoring a Pontiff who inspired devotion across a region he often visited.

In Brazil and Mexico, the world's two largest Catholic countries, thousands turned out at memorial services, while many more stayed up all night to watch broadcasts of the funeral from St Peter's Square in Rome.

Around a thousand Peruvian Catholics, many carrying candles and photos of the Pope, held an overnight vigil in a Lima square, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez led a homage in Caracas that mixed politics with praise.

At Brazil's Our Lady of the Apparition sanctuary, the world's biggest temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Latin America's largest pilgrimage center, more than five thousand people attended a morning mass.

Teresinha Brito, 68, wept as she spoke of how she saw the Pope in the same town of Aparecida 25 years ago. "I adored him for the example of humbleness and love that he gave to the world," she said.

Thousands of Mexicans flocked to the Basilica de Guadalupe, their country's holiest shrine, to hear a special tribute mass and to watch a broadcast on giant screens of the funeral rites for the Pope.

"It is almost like being there in Rome," said Georgina Vega, a primary school teacher. "Being here with a candle, sharing the warmth with others, transports me there."

The Pope visited Mexico five times in his 26-year reign and Brazil four times.

"He was the Pope that traveled the world and that's why we love him so," Peruvian Gabriel Paz, 56, said in Lima.

Tinge of Politics

In Venezuela, where left-winger Chavez, his ministers, and uniformed military officers and invited guests attended a memorial mass for the Pope in Caracas Cathedral, the commemoration was tinged with politics.

Supporters of the populist president chanted "Chavez, friend, the people are with you" and distributed posters showing Chavez and Pope John Paul meeting at the Vatican.

"The Pope taught us love and comprehension, it's a great loss," said 65-year-old Chavez supporter Marlene Vanegas, who described herself as "100 percent revolutionary and Catholic".

A Venezuelan government statement recalled the Pope's call for action to help the poor and said Chavez's self-styled"revolution" was bringing this "good news" to Venezuelans.

"We are sure the new Venezuela being born is the one the Pope envisioned," said the statement signed by Chavez, who has accused some local Catholic Church leaders of siding with rich political opponents in efforts to oust him.

While they mourned, many Latin Americans seemed enthusiastic about the idea that the new Pope to be appointed might come from their region.

"I would love that," said Matilde Parra, a Chilean who has lived for 31 years in Venezuela.

"But whatever country he comes from, I'd like him to follow Pope John Paul's teaching of social justice, of love, of sharing," she added, her fingers clutching a rosary.

It was standing room only inside Mexico's Basilica de Guadalupe after thousands of Mexicans lined the streets of the capital city on Thursday night to watch a popemobile -- a special vehicle built for the Pope so he could ride safely during his visits -- in a final tribute to him just hours before his funeral.

Crowds threw flowers at the white popemobile.

"I stood in this spot the last time he came and when I saw him, I was filled with faith and love. Now I am filled with much sadness because he has gone," said Monica Santiana, a 34-year-old nurse.

Additional reporting by Maria Pia Palermo in Aparecida, Pascal Fletcher in Caracas, Robin Emmott in Lima