There's a lot he doesn't remember, but one conversation does stick out: his wife talking to her 5-year-old daughter about how good people go to heaven.

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Raped and murdered by a misfit who has a habit of slaughtering young girls, 14-year-old Susie Salmon watches from a pleasant, convivial heaven as her family grieves her loss and gradually makes peace with the fact that her murderer is never prosecuted.

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The 76-year-old Argentine has described inequality as "a social sin that cries out to Heaven" - and has emphasised the Church's duty to serve the poor and disenfranchised.

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Another notable acoustic guitar is the Spanish-made instrument on which Clapton composed the compelling, beautiful "Tears in Heaven, " which he wrote after his 4-year-old son Conor's tragic death.

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