Pope John Paul II Has Passed

The TV is reporting that Pope John Paul II passed away within the last hour.

I'm not a Catholic, but I feel strangely sad at this news. While I certainly didn't agree with him on many things, the gentleman always seemed entirely sincere. This was a genuinely good man, I think.

And with more than twenty years in the Papacy, he was kind of a fixture of life, somebody who was always there. A little bit like a father, perhaps. Or a rock.

I guess for the priest who occupied the chair of Peter, that's appropriate.

 

So, what next?

Anyone wondering precisely what happens next might find this interesting.

So, here's a question: Should we wait for the obligatory 9 days of mourning to be overwith before we speculate on a successor? I've already got one in mind... but I don't want to appear disrespectful.

 

I wouldn't find it disrespectful. I think half the world is speculating on that very subject. For those who don't know, the process of choosing a new Pope is pretty interesting. I'm sure that the network news outlets have been preparing for this for quite some time and there will undoubtedly be news segments on the process. There will be LOTS of political intrigue involved as the Pope wields a huge amount of power throughout the world and there are a large number of social/ethical issues that fall within his sphere on influence. If anyone is interested, there's also a pretty good movie starring Anthony Quinn entitled The Shoes of the Fisherman that shows in some detail the process of the election of a new Pope.
Jack

 

My condolences to our Roman Catholic and Byzantine Catholic posters on the death of the pope. Certainly anyone who regards the liberation of central Europe from Communist tyranny as a good thing must acknowledge his central role as a catalyst in the events of 1989-1990. One need not water down very profound theological disagreement in order to recognize the very great contributions of Dr Wojtyla in the struggle for humane values during the totalitarian century. Requiescat in pace.

 

"He who goes into the conclave a Pope comes out a Cardinal." Roman saying.

 

JOHN PAUL II

was so much more than the prelate of Rome. He rose to the challenges of his times and became a great spiritual leader and healer.

Through the force of his will and with the strength of his courage he reached out to Jews and Moslems and encouraged healing. His powerful spiritual and moral convictions are respected by evangelical christians.

With the words, "Be not afraid..." he lit the fire of liberty in the hearts of eastern europe and with the other cold warriors of his generation changed the course of human history.

He did his level best to emulate the life of Christ.

May God grant him rest.

 

JOHN PAUL II

was so much more than the prelate of Rome. He rose to the challenges of his times and became a great spiritual leader and healer.

Through the force of his will and with the strength of his courage he reached out to Jews and Moslems and encouraged healing. His powerful spiritual and moral convictions are respected by evangelical christians.

With the words, "Be not afraid..." he lit the fire of liberty in the hearts of eastern europe and with the other cold warriors of his generation changed the course of human history.

He did his level best to emulate the life of Christ.

May God grant him rest.

 

JOHN PAUL II

was so much more than the prelate of Rome. He rose to the challenges of his times and became a great spiritual leader and healer.

Through the force of his will and with the strength of his courage he reached out to Jews and Moslems and encouraged healing. His powerful spiritual and moral convictions are respected by evangelical christians.

With the words, "Be not afraid..." he lit the fire of liberty in the hearts of eastern europe and with the other cold warriors of his generation changed the course of human history.

He did his level best to emulate the life of Christ.

May God grant him rest.

 

I'm not Roman Catholic but had great respect for a great man that did far more than his share to make the world a better place.

I am concerned though. Dr. John Bear went to all the trouble to get an Apositille that says that he is the pope. If he is chosen to be pope then he will have to get another Apositille that declares him to be what?

 

Passing of a Truly Historic Figure

 

Hi Wild Bill:

Given my ethnic background, I recall such things also.

When I was in college we had a seminar course on Roman Catholicism, and I presented a paper on Byzantine Catholics after interviewing one of the then BC bishops (who was most gracious to a Romanian Lutheran college kid). Almost all the other students were RC except for me and two Jews. Not ONE of the RC students had even heard of Eastern Rite Catholics, and it took me a while to explain that Eastern Rite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox weren't the same thing.

I also had friends who were Armenian Rite Catholics, survivors of the Ottoman genocide against the Armenians, who dealt with the you're what? stuff all the time. So, yes indeed, John Paul II improved things within his church immeasurably on this score.

Again, my condolences to you.

Janko




PS. You might (or might not) be interested to know that there are Byzantine Rite Lutherans in Ukraine. The rest of us, of course, use a modified Roman Rite.

 

And the winner is...Bill Dayson!

During the last few hours of the Pope's life, I found myself wondering which wazoos who post on degreeinfo.com were sitting at their keyboards, panting, fingers at the ready, waiting for the death announcement so he could be the first to break the news on this forum, telling everyone what we already knew.

I've gotta admit, I thought it would be Jimmy Clifton, telling us the obvious as usual. But I'm sure that Jimmy is chomping at the bit, knowing that Bill Dayson beat him to it.

As for me, I'll stick with CNN.

 

This is a very good movie. The process in the movie seemed to take forever.

Another good movie is about the Pope being locked out of the Vatican and ending up in a small village helping the locals.

The movie is Saving Grace. and stars Tom Conti.

 

Unfortunately we will never know what kind of Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani) would have been. I have a sneaky suspicion he would have been my favorite Pope.

Luciani, "The Smiling Pope," wrote a wonderful book entitled Illustrissimi, which contains letters to such characters as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Chesterton, Pinocchio, and many others. It is a delightful little books that reflects the warmth, sensitivity, and genuiness of the man.

 

I am no longer a Catholic, and do not beleive in organized religion, but I am sorry to see this great leader pass. I have to say that he had his convictions and practiced what he actually preached. To that, I commend him.

The sum of a person is only as good as the legacy they leave behind. Pope John Paul II helped bring down the wall, helped democracy flourish in Latin America, and definitely left his mark on the church.

I would highly recommend that anyone in Rome visit the Vatican. Even if you are not into religion, the archetecture leave you in awe.

 

I am no longer a Catholic, and do not beleive in organized religion, but I am sorry to see this great leader pass. I have to say that he had his convictions and practiced what he actually preached. To that, I commend him.

The sum of a person is only as good as the legacy they leave behind. Pope John Paul II helped bring down the wall, helped democracy flourish in Latin America, and definitely left his mark on the church.

I would highly recommend that anyone in Rome visit the Vatican. Even if you are not into religion, the archetecture leave you in awe.

 

I am no longer a Catholic, and do not beleive in organized religion, but I am sorry to see this great leader pass. I have to say that he had his convictions and practiced what he actually preached. To that, I commend him.

The sum of a person is only as good as the legacy they leave behind. Pope John Paul II helped bring down the wall, helped democracy flourish in Latin America, and definitely left his mark on the church.

I would highly recommend that anyone in Rome visit the Vatican. Even if you are not into religion, the archetecture leave you in awe.

 

I have seen this expression ("organized religion") for years. Exactly what is meant by this term?

Can we not say Jesus and His Twelve Disciples were organized, thus having an organized religion?

 

It is pretty simple Jimmy -- the Christian Church is an organized religion, the Catholic Church is an organized religion, The Hebrew religion is an organized religion.

You understand what organized religion is silly.

And I think I have said this before, Jesus Christ is no more the son of God than you are Jim!

 

John Paul II will certainly be remembered as one of the chief architects of the fall of Communism in eastern Europe. He was also, however, one of the more spiritual popes of the past century, if I can use a term that is too often glibbly used. His piety, born in the old world of Europe, often came into conflict with the values of the late 20th century industrialized world. There is little doubt, however, that his convictions were deeply rooted in his spirituality. Those who disagreed with many of his social or religious pronouncements must at least respect that in him. He never seems to have lost his feeling for "regular folk," learned no doubt during his upbringing in Poland. His charisma and compassion, I suspect, will lead to him becoming known as the "people's pope," perhaps more than anyone who has held that office in the modern era. He was certainly the right man to hold that position in the new age of instant communication.

During my time at Fordham, many of the Jesuit students called him (affectionately, I think) J2P2. It was during the time of the first Star Wars trilogy. It spoke, however, to their sense that this new pope was another in a long line of religious bureaucrats. Important, but not particularly inspiring. I think that we can safely say that they were wrong in this estimation.

He will be sorely missed by Roman Catholic and non-Roman Catholic alike.

marilynd