Pope John Paul is dead

[Heretik]

Goodbye.

[trinacria]

Truly, truly a great man. I'm ashamed to say I've strayed from my faith through the years.

He will be sorely missed.

[ænginn]

I have never understood or identified with Catholicism, and many times have been at odds with the traditions and ceremonies of The Church... imparticularly, what I percieved as "hero-worship" of the Pope. But seeing the world's reaction to the passing of the Pope has allowed me to view Catholics, and Catholocism in general, in a vividly different light.

In these past few days I have watched several television programs and researched on the net about the Pope and have come to respect, admire and even feel gratitude toward this man whom so many loved. He truly believed in, and felt compassion for humanity, all of it... not exclusively Catholics.

I feel quite saddened for those people whose lives and thoughts Pope John Paul II played an active role in. For me, his passing is merely a moment in history, something that I will look back on briefly and say, "Oh, I remember when he died", but for those of you whose faith and spirituality embrace the Pontiff as someone holy and sacred, I feel sympathy for you...

Originally Posted by Aeternitas

In spite of the fact that recently the effects of his illness were more and more obvious, he made the efforts to keep addressing crowds. I think he not only believed in God and loved God, but also loved people. Years ago when he was shot he forgave the author of such an attempt. He opposed abortion and loved children among other things. Therefore, eventhough not entirely as a leader, as a man he has my admiration as well.

I think that what made this particular Pope such an admired and loved man was his approachability... He was tangible, in the sense that he placed himself within the reach of the public; from sinnner to saint, he made himself accessable to all and lacked the "stuffiness" and imperiousness of some of the Popes who preceeded him. I truly believe that he viewed his position as a platform to do good, to assist humanity in it's ceaseless search for spirituality, not just a pedestal from which to be worshipped. He certainly was a "People's kind of Pope".

[bocian]

Great post.

It was his approach and love for the youth, so often neglected....that, which others had so often discarded, made him one to admire for all.

[Cristoforo]

Originally Posted by Phlegethon

It almost made me puke how Dubya, the enemy of the world, tried to claim the Pope as his friend because he also opposed communism. Someone should have beaten that war criminal unconscious for this act of blasphemy.

Yes, totally disgusting. The fact that Americans elected him again shows their lack of sensible judgement.

[Cristoforo]

Originally Posted by ænginn

I think that what made this particular Pope such an admired and loved man was his approachability... He was tangible, in the sense that he placed himself within the reach of the public; from sinnner to saint, he made himself accessable to all and lacked the "stuffiness" and imperiousness of some of the Popes who preceeded him. I truly believe that he viewed his position as a platform to do good, to assist humanity in it's ceaseless search for spirituality, not just a pedestal from which to be worshipped. He certainly was a "People's kind of Pope".

This Pope was so popular for various factors:

1. He was a great diplomat
2. He prefered pragmatism to dogma
3. He travelled a lot
4. He was very accessible
5. He was a humanist
6. Probably, he was the most Pope who behaved like the Bible's Christ.

[Phlegethon]

He accompanied me through most of my life. I remember the "habemus papam" in 1978, the year I started elementary school. I remember Ali Agca shoot at him, his recovery, his three journeys to Germany - on the first one he celebrated mass on a field outside Mainz when it was pouring buckets from heaven and a storm pretty much wiped everything away, including most participants. And I also remeber him celebrating mass in Santiago de Chile, when all hell broke lose.

He was a funny and witty man who often joked in German with journalists. It will be very hard for his successor to carry on where he left.

[Timo]

I really don't care about this man's death, nor did I pay any attention to him while he was alive. Though I noticed many of his stances which I disagreed with.

[Ederico]

Originally Posted by trinacria

Truly, truly a great man. I'm ashamed to say I've strayed from my faith through the years.

He will be sorely missed.

Same here.

[Perun]

Ive always had a love-hate attitude towards John Paul II. Nevertheless there was much I did admire about him and many areas I certainly agreed with him in theological matters.

I particularly liked how he brought Eastern Catholic issues to the forefront of the Church's agenda and openly encouraged Roman Catholics to enlighten themselves on the Eastern heritage of the faith. As an Eastern Catholic myself I appreciate that, since we've often been neglected by the Papacy and even at times subject to Latinization.

On many levels I had respect for the man: not only as a Catholic, but as a fellow Pole(Im only 25% Polish but still) and Slav. He will be missed, despite all the negative things he may have done to the church.

[Perun]

I also liked how the Pope also paid his respects to the Ukrainian church and to its once great leader Andrei Sheptveskii. Although there were issues concerning his treatment of certain Ukrainian bishops, but this isnt the proper time to discuss this.


Rest in Peace John Paul II!

[Gesta Bellica]

Rest in peace, John Paul II.

I had something to disagree with some of his stands, expecially the most reconciliant with the other religions, but neverthless he was a great man of culture and deep thinking..
he will be missed, i wish the best to his successor as he will need to have a strong charisma.

[Perun]

http://thirdpositionreview.blogspot....i-is-dead.html

Pope John Paul II is dead!

Pope John Paul II died at 9:37 PM Rome time yesterday. Like other fellow Catholics, I sincerely mourn his death. I've already dealt with many of the issues concerning his death back in my March 1 posting. I dealt with the issue of his possible successor and what lies ahead for the church. Rev. Anthony J. Figueiredo of Seton Hall University explained the situation very well about the concerns of the next pope:
''The first major concern for the next pope is evangelization of major areas that have lost the faith, particularly in Western Europe, where in many countries the church has really become irrelevant."

Europe, the historical heartland of Christendom, is indeed the main spiritual battleground of the present and near future. May Europe return to its cultural and spiritual roots. As Hilaire Belloc immortally proclaimed; "Europe will return to the Faith, or she will perish. The Faith is Europe, and Europe is the Faith."

I also pointed out at the time the mourning for the Pope's health, and how much of it was a complete farce. The same logic can easily apply now that he's actually dead. A very good example of this of course is President Bush's plans for attending the Pope's funeral. John Stanton gave a very good assessment of the President and his policies from a Catholic perspective in his piece Operation American Pharisee: Bush\'s War on Jesus Christ. It was interesting to see Israel express sorrow over the Pope\'s death, especially since the Pope was often a staunch critic of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians; including the Israeli government's insistent plans for building a security wall(to which the Israeli government ignored him). This mourning comes almost literally a year after Jews launched a massive campaign against the Catholic film-maker Mel Gibson for his Passion of the Christ, so it's often interesting to see how these events play out. Without a doubt the most surprising incident of mourning came from Mehmet Ali Agca, who attempted to assassinate the Pope back in 1981. Whether genuine or not, this is nothing short of remarkable.

In that same post, I certainly criticized John Paul II for much of the harm he done to the church, all of which can be visually seen here. Many of his teachings clearly violated the traditional doctrines of the Church as outlined here. Nevertheless he did have his virtues. He certainly played an important role in fighting international Communism both in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Lech Walesa made note of the Pope's role in inspiring the Polish people to resist Soviet oppression and to reclaim their lost national heritage. To the Polish people he truly was a national hero. George Huntson Williams supposedly gives much reference to the Pope's devotion to Polish nationalism in his book The Mind of John Paul II: Origins of His Thought and Action. Being partially of Polish decent myself, this means a lot to me personally. We should also not forget John Paul II's tough stance when it came to sexual morals and the protection of life. He was clearly a man devoted to the well-being of mankind, even if his actions in that field were misguided. So overall, I think other traditionalist Catholics need to make a fair assessment of John Paul II and give him credit for the good things he accomplished during his pontificate while being aware of the not so good things he did. The Society of Pius X certainly had no trouble doing so.

Rest in Peace John Paul II!

posted by Perun

[WebViro]

Originally Posted by Gesta Bellica

Rest in peace, John Paul II.

I had something to disagree with some of his stands, expecially the most reconciliant with the other religions, but neverthless he was a great man of culture and deep thinking..
he will be missed, i wish the best to his successor as he will need to have a strong charisma.

Rest in peace.

And I agree with that disagreement..

[Theobald]

RIP, Jean-Paul II !

He was a great man, although he was maybe too "reconciling" with Islam and Judaism.

I'm just hoping that the new Pope won't be Arinze or Lustiger, the French Jew converted because he was persecuted in 1940 (marrane).

Here we have some Leftists who are delighted with this death, are saying it is a great thing because J-P II was a "conservative Fascist" and ask why there are 24 hours of national mourning, since the French republic is a "laic" one... Really disgusting

[Rusalka]

Well, it's the French state which is required be secular, not the French people themselves so there's not much point in that.

[Zrinski]

Who cares what idiots are saying....