The Pope lies gravely ill today; all indications are that he will die in a week at the most.
Already, the media is full of stories about the compassion, generosity, and tolerance of John Paul II. I have no reason to doubt those stories are true.
But did he end the fiction of homosexuality being a ‘sin’? No. Did he finally allow birth control? Not at all. Did he move with force and justice against the priests who molested young boys? No; his biggest concern was that ‘people would lose faith in the Church’. Did he renounce his claims to infallibility? He did not.
When so much power is concentrated in a single man, and hundreds of millions of people around the world have genuine faith in him, the disappointment is incredibly bitter that he couldn’t overcome petty politics and dogma to save untold millions from hunger, ignorance, and fear.
But I cannot ask that someone suffer for all eternity for the weaknesses of one lifetime. Et lux perpetua luceat eum.
Edit: It seems that Giovanni Paulo II has died after all. All eyes now turn to the College of Cardinals...
3 comments:
Perhaps today is not a good day to slam the Pope. Just a thought.
The Pope held true to the Catholic teaching on homosexuality. Sex, in the Church's eyes, is meant for procreation. With that in mind, both birth control and homosexuality are sins, as they are anti-procreation. The Church has been and will continue to be--hopefully--both consistent and right in her teaching on sexuality.
As for the priest scandal, I will say this. The Pope was put in a very difficult position. Personally, every single one of those priests deserves to rot in jail.
As a Catholic, I was thoroughly impressed with the Pope. He showed the world how good the Catholic faith is.
I don't understand how the Pope was supposed to save millions from "hunger, ignorance, and fear". He did what he could to spread the love of Christ.
I'm going to stop before I lose my civility.
The man who helped bring about the collapse of communism through the polish solidarity movment. thats saving someone from 'hunger ignorance and fear'.
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