"Our solution to every crisis is to spend, spend, and spend some more. John Paul's answer was radically different... "
Pope John Paul II was the religious pop icon of our time. He achieved this status not for the words he said, but the rhythm we felt emanate from his soul. In these past days and the weeks to come, many have and will focus on his political accomplishments — the man who helped bring down communism, the peacemaker that averted war between Argentina and Chile, the lone Western voice speaking for those who had no voice in Africa — and that was only his first year. Later in his papacy he became known as a moral crusader against contraception, abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, and the death penalty. He attempted to centralize the church's power by quickly disciplining those theologians who disagreed with his moral compass. When those pesky leftwing Jesuits started questioning him, he quickly changed their leadership. When the conservative theologian Marcel Lefebrve refused to accept Vatican II, he excommunicated him. John Paul II did not tolerate dissent, either from the left or the right.
But whatever our politics, his reign was more than his view on the parochial issues of the day. It is too simple to categorize him as a liberal, conservative, or a moderate. To focus and judge John Paul II for the many political positions he took throughout his papacy is to miss the point of his life and the profound impact he made on our world.
As a Catholic, I have always been astonished as to why non-Catholics cared about what my pope thought. It is often frustrating to hear atheists, agnostics, Jews, Protestants, Mormons, and your occasional Satan worshiper criticize the church and, in particular, the pope. From his positions on condoms to erroneous interpretations of papal statements, I have often wondered, why does this little old man dressed up in white who runs around the world in his Pope-mobile inspire so much debate? Why does the media always insist on misinterpreting his actions? For example, we constantly hear about John Paul II's apology for the Holocaust, but what the pope actually was stating was that Catholics could have done more to prevent the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Another example of people getting the Catholic faith wrong is when they argue that Catholic doctrine demands that everything the pope says is true. In this case, the Vatican was probably as much at fault for the dissemination of this fallacy. The doctrine of infallibility is a complex matter, but it applies in rare cases. Throughout the entire history of the church, only three statements were deemed infallible. All of these concerned the Virgin Mary and her immaculate conception — in other words, the belief that Mary was born without sin. None of the infallible statements touch on social or political issues. And none were uttered by this pope.
In some way, John Paul II's death has finally given insight on why he inspired such a universal appeal, and why those who knew nothing about the Catholic Church always seemed to have opinion on what it was doing.
He provided a voice that we may not have liked, we may not have agreed with, but we needed to have in the world: a voice for the forgotten. He was the one guy in the chorus that was singing a different song. Every day we are bombarded by a culture of materialism. Buy this watch and you will become a man. Drive this car and you will get laid. Wear these boxers and you will look sexy.
The culture of materialism seemed to reach new heights after 9/11. During that moment of national crisis, we were told by President Bush to spend as much money as possible. Thousands of our fellow Americans were just incinerated, and we were told to go to a baseball game. Our solution to every crisis is to spend, spend, and spend some more. John Paul's answer was radically different. He told our leaders to not just gather riches, but to be generous with those other nations that were suffering. John Paul II was the world's most vocal critic of radical individualism and savage capitalism.
He presented a different path — a path that he blazed through example. When he was shot, he forgave his would-be Turkish assassin Mehmet Ali Agca. Long before people heard about the criminal acts in the Sudan, John Paul II stood up to its brutal dictator. As people in Eastern and Central Europe rose against their oppressors, he told them be not afraid, for they were not alone. When Bush declared unilateral war against Iraq, the pope told him he was wrong. He became the voice of moral outrage, and, even after the Iraqi war, demanded that the U.S. return sovereignty to the Iraqi people.
In a time when most wanted the criminal justice system to dispose of people, he gave a spirited attack against the death penalty. He respected and honored the children of the world more than any other figure in history. Many Catholic teenagers saw their Pontiff as a superstar.
John Paul II was the most ecumenical pope. He turned Catholicism from its past parochial viewpoint to one that sought unity with other Christian faiths. He called anti-Semitism an act "against God and man." He was the first pope to enter a synagogue. He visited mosques and met with the head muftis.
All of these events share one universal message — all human life, no matter how small or powerless, is divinely important. His credo could be summed up in three words, "be not afraid."
And he was not afraid. He was not afraid to tell the most powerful that they were wrong on matters of war and capitalism. He was not afraid to tell the modern world that it was wrong on its views of sexual morality. And, in his final years, he was not afraid to confront death. His last decade of suffering will be one of his most remembered testaments. John Paul II began his papacy as a vibrant, relatively youthful, athletic, and dynamic man. The good looking pontiff would be seen racing down the slopes in Switzerland. He was not the frail man we normally saw on the Throne of Peter. Yet, with time, he gracefully embraced his age and suffering. He became ill, but never tragic. He confronted death like he confronted other challenges in his life, with a fearlessness that we will all remember. He truly lived up to his credo — he was not afraid.
I confess that I never thought the 263rd successor to Peter would ever die. He seemed always to come back from the dead. But now, he has finally found the peace that he inspired in so many people. And so, a new epoch will begin in the Catholic Church. In many ways it will be built upon this pope's success. It ought to continue his legacy of respecting each and every human life. But it must grow beyond John Paul II's view of humanity. This will be the test of the next pope. He will have to deal with the role of women in the church, a declining clergy, a declining European presence, and a rising third-world attendance.
And the world will be lucky to have another pope who faces conflict with equal courage, who is not afraid.
