04/06/2005: "My thoughts on John Paul II's passing"

I've been trying to write this entry for 3 days now without success. There is so much to say and so little time. I think I'll start by linking to some less than glowing opinion pieces on John Paul II:

But John Paul II's most lasting legacy to Catholicism will come from the episcopal appointments he made. ... as a result the ranks of the episcopate are filled with mindless sycophants and intellectual incompetents. - The New York Times

In the end, though, he could not win over everyone, and his tenure ended for him with many disappointments. - The Washington Post

The pope would certainly never have wanted his own end to be a lesson in the transcendent importance of allowing humans to choose their own manner of death. But to some of us, that was the exact message of his dignified departure. - The New York Times


I post these not because I agree with them but because it is important to remember in this time when the majority of the press and seemingly all of the world leaders are competing with each other to offer the most glowing statement of their love for John Paul II.

The reality is that the majority of people in the world did not like John Paul's policies and beliefs. The majority of the world wanted abortion and condoms, euthanasia and the death penalty, women priests and gay "rights", married priests and more lay authority.

But somehow through this all, this man was loved. Only the most extreme of advocates for certain causes were able to demonize this man enough to actually dislike him. Everyone else had a deep respect for the man. So how was this possible?

I believe it was because HE loved everyone. He loved those who disagreed with him. He loved those who demonized him. He loved those who fought against everything that he fought for. The quality of John Paul II that I'd like most to grow to have as a greater part of me is that ability to love my enemy as he did. He truly embodied that aspect of Christ. He was one of the few people who could sit with the publician and the prostitute and make clear to them two things that are so difficult to communicate at the same time: that he disapproved of their actions and called them to repent while still telling them that he loves them no matter what. I think we should all strive to emulate John Paul in this regard. In doing so we would ultimately be emulating Christ, who John Paul emulated.

The other thing that struck me about his death is how much so many people, particularly Americans do not understand the goals of the Catholic Church. In the same Washington Post article I linked above, it states 'Ultimately, he was hard to categorize in the American context. The terms liberal and conservative "just don't apply to him," said Glendon, the philosopher.' Sighting a similar understanding of him, I heard one radio commentator call him a "paradox of a man". How arrogant of us to force him into our American political spectrum! We have such a narrow focus that we can not see the world through anyone elses eyes. So many of the negative comments of him spoke about dwindling Church membership, concerns about the sexual abuse crisis and growing dissent regarding Chruch orthodoxy. They speak as if these are the metrics by which John Paul II judged himself when the reality is that John Paul never judged himself or the Church by human standards. He judged himself and the Church by God's standards and it didn't matter if that was liberal or conservative, popular or unpopular, and increased or decreased membership in the Church. John Paul saw it has his role to preach the Truth and it didn't matter what categories that fit into. That is the goal of the Church: to preach the Gospel to the whole world and to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Finally, I have one prayer that keeps bubbling to the top when I think of John Paul's passing. I pray that his death may help bring together Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians together with the Catholic Church. There is often so much hatred of the Catholic Church from those circles yet somehow they too loved John Paul II. I pray that in death they will come to see that they loved a truly Catholic man. A man, who if they are correct in believing that those who accept the Gospel according to the Catholic Church are hell-bound, is surely receiving his eternal punishment as I write. I pray that those who believe both of these things (Catholics are hell-bound and John Paul was a great Christian) see the inherent contradiction in those beliefs and come to see that the Catholic Church is not only Christian, but the founding Christian Church. Even if that realization does not bring those who have it to be members of the Catholic Church, they will at least come to love, as Christians, the 1 billion people world wide who profess their faith in the Catholic Church.

John Paul the Second, pray for us and for the whole world.