Winds of Change.NET: The Death of the Pope

April 2, 2005

The Death of the Pope

by Dan Darling at April 2, 2005 9:37 PM

As I imagine everyone in the world is now aware, His Holiness John Paul II died earlier today.

Since I am a convert to Catholicism, there is so much I feel right now that simply cannot be put into words, now or ever. Looking back over the Pope's life and his accomplishments on so many levels since Thursday, I am still in awe of everything he has done. Working to end communism, improving ties and break down old barriers between Catholics and Protestants, Jews, and Muslims (and I am extremely surprised at how al-Jazeera has become EWTN for the purposes of the Pontiff's death), and everything else that he has done, it's simply amazing. Any one of these things could have been the accomplishments of a great man, and I think that any one of us would be very lucky indeed to achieve even half of what he did.

While I know that many people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, did not always agree with the stances that he took on any number of issues, I think that any one of us would be hard-pressed to deny his enormous impact on our world. The enormous role of the Church in putting an end to the Soviet Union is due in no small part to his vision and his moral leadership and as such we all feel a sense of loss at his passing. Wretchard once compared John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher to the Three Musketeers during the latter stages of the Cold War and I think the comparison holds even more now as we honor the Pope in his passing.

To Catholics, death is not seen as an end but rather as a beginning, what C.S. Lewis called the beginning of the great story. Like St. Paul before him, Pope John Paul II has suffered long and arduously but has continued to keep his eye on the prize. He now goes on to his reward, and I pray now that God grants him the peace and tranquility that he so richly deserves.

This is even more so for me personally, who got to see His Holiness from a distance at World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002, the same year I converted to Catholicism. Seeing him there, and seeing the enormous impact he had on the youth. He was clearly suffering even then, but the purity of his spirit shined through even then, not only for me but for all the thousands who had come from all over the world to see him.

God bless the soul of Karol Wojtyla. And God bless your Church, which will be fortunate indeed to be led by a man with half your spirit.

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."

- Matthew 7:24-25

UPDATE: My Polish-born Winds of Change.NET colleague and friend Arthur Chrenkoff provides his own thoughts here.

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Tracked: April 3, 2005 5:09 AM

Pondering The Passing And Life Of Pope John Paul II from Dean's World

Excerpt: People around the world are reacting to and pondering the death and life of Po...

Comments

#1 from loulou at 10:28 pm on Apr 02, 2005

i want to say your p�st is beautiful
you have put in words what i couldnt in your tongue (i am french)
i just returned from a funeral vigil for him (? sorry not sur for the wordage) and i feel conforted by reading your words
thanks and
puisse Dieu l'accueillir dans son royaume!!!

#2 from loulou at 10:28 pm on Apr 02, 2005

i want to say your p崴 is beautiful
you have put in words what i couldnt in your tongue (i am french)
i just returned from a funeral vigil for him (? sorry not sur for the wordage) and i feel conforted by reading your words
thanks and
puisse Dieu l'accueillir dans son royaume!!!

#3 from Joe Katzman at 11:26 pm on Apr 02, 2005

Loulou,

A mighty and compassionate G-d will indeed welcome him into His kingdom.

"For now we see through a glass, darkly;
but then face to face.
Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

This Pope was a Man of G-d - a title that goes beyond his status as head of a particular religion. We were blessed to have him.

#4 from GUYK at 11:39 pm on Apr 02, 2005

The Pope was a man of peace and well respected for his views on peace. Although I did not agree with him on many issues, especially birth control,I know the earth will miss him. May he rest in peace.

#5 from T. J. Madison at 1:51 am on Apr 03, 2005

The Catholic Church as an institution is quite despicable, responsible for much human suffering and misery.

That said, Karol J�zef Wojtyła was clearly a noble and decent person, worthy of much respect.

This is yet more evidence that good and decent people can use any religion to justify their decency.

RIP KJW 1920-2005

>>A mighty and compassionate G-d will indeed welcome him into His kingdom.

Minor technical point: when was John Paul II not in His kingdom?

#6 from Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) at 2:49 am on Apr 03, 2005

I am neither Roman Catholic, nor Polish, but pass this on because 22 years later I believe it to be more true than ever. In 1983, after four years of John Paul's papacy, an RC friend of mine, a specialist in administration, now deceased, observed "This man doesn't care about today. He's not even thinking five years in the future. He's thinking--and acting--for the next five HUNDRED years." This was one of a small handful of truly great popes in the last thousand years. Certainly one of the top ten ever.

"Make good use of your days, for we live in wicked times." Ephesians 5:16. He did. They are. Do widzenia. Dziekuje, brat, bardzo dziekuje.

#7 from Glen Wishard at 5:22 am on Apr 03, 2005

"While I know that many people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, did not always agree with the stances that he took on any number of issues, I think that any one of us would be hard-pressed to deny his enormous impact on our world."

This is one Protestant who believes that John Paul's impact on the world would have been infinitely less if he had thrown in all the abdicating reforms that his critics wanted (I elaborate further at Canis Iratus).

There are Catholics (especially American Catholics) who have griped about the mixed bag they have gotten with this pope. They are wrong. What they got was a man who pursued one consistent mission as God gave him the power to see it.

He didn't defy Nazism and Communism so that the Church he served would have the freedom to abolish itself.

#8 from Joe Katzman at 12:25 pm on Apr 03, 2005

Glen, really liked your quote:

"Who in the world will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason? For either joy will be overborne by mourning, or mourning will be cast out by joy; so it is only in these our Christian mysteries that we can rejoice and mourn at once and for the same reason ... and neither our mourning or our rejoicing is as the world's is."

- T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

Those who wanmt to read the rest of Glen's post he referred to, here's the exact URL

Though I have to give pride of place to his excellent short story: The Angel of Death, and What Junior Told Him. Dude, you should submit that somewhere.