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Pope John Paul II, the first Slav head of the Catholic Church in history, died at just after nine-thirty on Saturday evening. At noon on Sunday, church bells tolled throughout the country to honour the Pontiff. To the head of the Czech Catholic Church, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, the Pope was a great person who led an untiring fight for human rights, both before and after the end of the Cold War. The priest and former Czech dissident Tomas Halik pointed to his personal charisma and to his symbolic significance.

Although most Czechs are not practising Catholics - only some four percent of the population attend mass regularly - Pope John Paul II was very popular in the Czech Republic and hugely respected for his role in helping to bring about the fall of communism. Czech was one of the many languages that the Pope spoke, and he visited the Czech Republic three times during his papacy, firstly in 1990 - less than a year after the fall of communism. To the former Czech President and former dissident, Vaclav Havel, Pope John Paul II was "his wise and understanding confessor" who gave him hope and the strength to cherish life.

The minority government of Prime Minister Stanislav Gross will ask for a vote of confidence in parliament, Mr Gross said on Sunday. The cabinet made the decision following Friday's demand by Czech President Vaclav Klaus that a confidence vote is called before he appoints new ministers, including replacements for the three Christian Democrat ministers who resigned on Thursday. Mr Gross said the confidence vote will be held in order to stop the government crisis and stressed that the president did not have the right to make such a demand under the constitution.

Meanwhile, President Vaclav Klaus has demanded that Prime Minister Stanislav Gross call a vote of confidence, before Mr Klaus appoints new ministers, including replacements for the three Christian Democrat ministers who resigned on Thursday. Mr Gross said he would not hold a confidence vote and noted that the president did not have the right to make such a demand under the constitution.

The prime minister has already announced some of his new cabinet appointees. Jan Kohout is to become foreign minister, Radko Martinek will be environment minister and the transport ministry is to be headed by Pavel Svagr.

The Czech prime minister, Stanislav Gross, has survived a vote of no confidence called by the opposition Civic Democrats. Friday's vote came two days after his government lost their majority with the departure of the Christian Democrats from the coalition. The remaining parties, Mr Gross's Social Democrats and the Freedom Union, won less than half the votes, but survived thanks to the Communist Party, who abstained.

Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolanek later slammed what he called a "red coalition" of the Social Democrats and Communists.

The no-confidence vote followed a period of instability in the coalition government, after Prime Minister Gross became embroiled in a scandal over his family's finances.