I agree with eveything kalinka_vinnie wrote.

>I still don't see why one man's death is more important than another's.

It isn't. What you are seeing/hearing about is the grief of individuals who felt some connection to the Pope. They are expressing their own sorrow at losing this man. If your makebelieve shoemaker had had millions of people who loved him and made a pilgrimage to his village, that would be on TV too. That's the news, not just another person dying.