The Passing of a Good Man

Date: 02 April, 2005

By: Chief

arol Wojtyla also known as Pope John Paul II has, as most of the world knows, died. Most people who have heard of him know him only as the leader, the pope, of the largest Christian church in the world. The Catholic church. Approximately one billion believers strong. However, not all that many people realize that the pope, as is the case with all popes, are dual hatted. Not only is the pope the head of the church, the pope is also a head of state. Vatican City is its own country. A city state, such as Singapore is.

While I must disagree with some of the edicts issued the late Pope John Paul II (I am not catholic) acting in his capacity as church leader, I must say wholeheartedly that as a head of state he was good. No, he was great.

So what did he do? Well, for starters:

• It was he, in conjunction with President Regan that lead to the ultimate destruction of the Berlin Wall.
• It was he, in conjunction with President Regan and Lech Valensa, of the Polish solidarity movement that in the course of a few short years ended communism in Eastern Europe.
• With the break-up of the Soviet bloc, relations between the Kremlin and the Vatican gained a new significance. Indeed, Mikhail Gorbachev visited Rome, the first time a Soviet leader had crossed the threshold of St Peter's square. "The Pope," he told his wife Raisa at the time, "is the preeminent moral authority in the world. But he's still a Slav." The understanding between the two men undoubtedly eased the way to democracy in the eastern bloc (From the BBC).
• He visited Britain. A historic trip made all the more important as it occurred during the Falklands crisis. For the first time since the Reformation the Pope met the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• He held an audience for the Queen of England and her husband in the Vatican.
• He had met and talked at length with President Carter.
• He held an audience for Cuba's Fidel Castro and called for an end of the boycott of Cuba and for Castro to allow for religious freedom.
• He has traveled and spoken in both Israel and Syria.
• He fought for true and lasting peace in the middle east.
• He argued against armed conflict in both Afghanistan and Iraq (we should have listened).
• He fought to end poverty and tyranny throughout the world.
• Most important of all, he was a man of unwavering grit. We always knew where he stood. A rarity in a head of state.

Those are just a few of his accomplishments as Vatican head of state. I also have a feeling that when the history books are written about John Paul II he will emerge as one of the giants of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. A real mover and shaker.

One thing is for sure, those who aspire for election as the top dog in whatever country could learn a lot from this man. However, most are professional politicians who sold their political souls to the highest bidder years before. As such, I really do not hold out much hope for their, um, salvation, if you will. Let alone ours.

Now he is gone and in a few days the College of Cardinals will commence the process of electing a new pope to fill the void. It is one thing to elect a pope, it is another to elect one that can contribute in the way the late pope did. Anyway you slice it, the new pope, whoever that ends up being, has some huge shoes to fill. I, for one, do not envy that person in the least.

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