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Pope John Paul II 1920-2005

Island Ryhno

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A sad day for many Roman Catholics and indeed mankind in general, a end to a very peaceful and powerful man. Rest In Peace

Pope John Paul dies at age 84 after long struggle with illness; world mourns

1 hour, 12 minutes ago 

VICTOR L. SIMPSON

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope John Paul, who led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years and helped topple communism in Europe while becoming the most-travelled pope, died Saturday night in his Vatican apartment after a long public struggle against debilitating illness. He was 84. We all feel like orphans this evening," Undersecretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri told the crowd of 70,000 that had gathered in St. Peter's Square below the Pope's still-lighted apartment windows.
The assembled faithful fell into a stunned silence before some people broke out in applause, an Italian tradition in which mourners often clap for important figures. Others wept.
The crowd, which appeared to grow quickly, recited the rosary. A person in the front held a Polish flag in honour of the Polish-born pontiff.
Prelates asked those in the square to keep silent so they might "accompany the Pope in his first steps into heaven."
Later, as bells tolled in mourning, a group of young people sang, Alleluia, He Will Rise Again, while one of them strummed a guitar.
"The angels welcome you," Vatican TV said after papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced the death of the Pope, who had for years suffered from Parkinson's disease and came down with fever and infections in recent weeks.
A mass was scheduled for St. Peter's Square for 10:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EDT) Sunday.


In contrast to the church's ancient traditions, Navarro-Valls announced the death in an e-mail to journalists: "The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment." The spokesman said church officials were following instructions that John Paul had written for them on Feb. 22, 1996.
"He was a marvellous man. Now he's no longer suffering," Concetta Sposato, a pilgrim who heard the Pope had died as she was on her way to St. Peter's to pray, said tearfully.
"My father died last year. For me, it feels the same," said Elisabetta Pomacalca, 25, a Peruvian who lives in Rome.
"I'm Polish. For us, he was a father," said pilgrim Beata Sowa.
John Paul declined rapidly after suffering heart and kidney failure following two hospitalizations in as many months. Just two hours before announcing his death, the Vatican had said he was in "very serious" condition, although he was responding to aides.
Since his surprise election in 1978, John Paul travelled the world, inspiring a revolt against communism in his native Poland and across the Soviet bloc, but also preaching against consumerism, contraception and abortion.
John Paul was a robust 58 when the cardinals stunned the world and elected the cardinal from Krakow, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
In his later years, however, John Paul was the picture of frailty. Although he kept up his travels, he was no longer able to kiss the ground.
Italy's ANSA news agency said Vatican and Italian flags were being lowered to half-mast across Rome and elsewhere. In Washington, flags over the White House also were lowered to half-mast.
People in John Paul's hometown in Poland fell to their knees and wept as the news of his death reached them at the end of a special mass in the church where he worshipped as a boy.

Church bells rang out after the announcement from the Vatican, but it took several minutes for people inside the packed, standing-room only church to find out as they continued their vigil into a second night.

Then the parish priest, the Rev. Jakub Gil, came to the front of the church as the last hymn died away. "His life has come to an end. Our great countryman has died," he said. People inside the church and standing outside fell to their knees.

Earlier Saturday, Navarro-Valls said John Paul was not in a coma and opened his eyes when spoken to. But he added: "Since dawn this morning, there have been first signs that consciousness is being affected."

"Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but when you speak to him he opens his eyes," Navarro-Valls said.

The Pope was last seen in public Wednesday when, looking gaunt and unable to speak, he briefly appeared at his window.

His health sharply deteriorated the next day after he suffered a urinary tract infection.

Navarro-Valls said the Pope was still speaking late Friday but did not take part when mass was celebrated in his presence Saturday morning.

He said aides had told the Pope that thousands of young people were in St. Peter's Square on Friday evening. Navarro-Valls said the Pope appeared to be referring to them when he seemed to say: "I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you."

One of the Pope's closest aides, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, was quoted Saturday as saying that when he saw the pontiff on Friday morning, John Paul was "aware that he is passing to the Lord."

The Pope "gave me the final farewell," the news agency of the Italian bishops conference quoted the German cardinal as saying Friday night
 
Very sad to see such a great man go. I had only been near him once, but even being in his presence, you knew there was something special. God rest his soul. Rest in peace, Karol.
 
Great picture of him in cyberspace presenting arms on parade in 1939 or so; he had been a soldier in the Polish Army.
 
popearmy.jpg

A Polish soldier
A 19-year-old Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II (centre), is seen holding a rifle while performing 'present arms' in this July 1939 photo. Two months before the outbreak of the second world war, he attended a military training camp in western Ukraine, then eastern Poland.
Photograph: Adam Gatty-Kostyal/AP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,8543,-10204486915,00.html

His father was a retired soldier in the Polish Army.

Wether you agree with the Catholic religion or not, you can not deny that the People's Pope was a great and positive man...
 
â Å“Theocratsâ ? for Freedom
What's faith got to do with it? Plenty.

The word "theocrat" is a rapidly emerging swearword in American politics. If someone opposes gay marriage, or supports giving sustenance to Terri Schiavo, or has any strong moral convictions that inform his policy positions, he is a "theocrat" who secretly wishes to begin burning people at the stake. How odd, then, that this week we mourn the death and celebrate the life of a man, Pope John Paul II, who had "theocratic" trappings and convictions and yet is universally regarded as a great warrior for freedom.

Actually, it is not odd at all. Many of the great leaps of freedom in the West have come at the instigation of Christian believers. Their faith lends them an unbending belief in human dignity and an audacious hope in success against all odds that sweep aside excuses for inaction.

When the Quakers began agitating against slavery in 18th-century England, igniting a wave of moral revulsion against it, they didn't care that slavery was important economically to the country. They believed slavery was a violation of God's law â ” enough said. When Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his collection of (in secular terms) fellow religious fanatics began marching in the American South in the 1960s, even some pro-civil-rights liberals demurred, warning against "impatience." King responded that justice wouldn't wait. John Paul II acted in this tradition of Christian confrontation of evil in his titanic struggle against Communism in Eastern Europe.

Through accidents of history, Protestantism has traditionally been associated with political freedom. The Catholic Church, in contrast, had a scarring experience with a nominally democratic revolution in France in 1789 that was viciously anti-clerical. In Europe especially, the church tended, thereafter, to side with established authority.

But there had always been an important seed of freedom in Catholic thought: True faith must be freely chosen. This appreciation of "interior freedom" wouldn't be joined with full acceptance of liberal democracy until the 1960s, when American bishops pushed for adoption of a "Declaration of Religious Freedom" as part of the Vatican II council. It put the church firmly on the side of liberty of conscience and pluralism. Karol Wojtyla advocated for the Declaration, realizing what a powerful tool it would be for the church in Eastern Europe.

Pope John Paul believed in the connection between truth and freedom. One school of thought â ” generally, liberal secularist â ” has held that truth is a threat to freedom: If there is only one true way, it will inevitably squash freedom. Another school of thought â ” associated with religious reactionaries â ” believes that freedom represents a threat to truth because it will lead to moral relativism. The pope rejected both arguments.

The secularist view misses that freedom is grounded in truths, in the God-given dignity of man as a rational creature and in our fundamental equality. This is why the pope could say, "God created us to be free." If the idea of freedom is detached from these truths, it has no secure ground, because the strong will inevitably attempt to dominate the weak unless checked by moral truths (see slavery or segregation or communism).

The reactionary view is mistaken too, because freedom, properly ordered, is not a threat to truth. Freedom shouldn't be understood as moral anarchy, which makes freedom impossible. Truth narrows our choices. In Pope John Paul's thought, truth makes dictatorship impermissible, but also abortion and exploitation of the poor â ” they all offend against human dignity.

The pope's views had a real-world test in Eastern Europe, where a commitment to truth undermined a system based on lies; a recognition of the fundamental imperatives of human dignity exposed rank injustice; and religious belief made it possible for people to brave the threats of a police state. It was Pope John Paul's faith, in turn, that gave him the convictions, the courage, and the optimism necessary to shepherd this revolution to fruition. When the chips are down, give me a freedom-loving man of faith every time.

â ” Rich Lowry is author of Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.

(c) 2004 King Features Syndicate

http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200504050742.asp
 
I may not agree with everything he said or did, I still gave him a lot of respect because he did things that benefited people and inspired many more to do good things.

I could debate the article as being selective in the last post, but I don't want to get off topic
 
I know as a good Catholic, that I should not do this, and no doubt my friend Trinity will be on my heathen behind to repent..but I had to add this..


 
heh.. id love to see Simon talk down to them.....


Simon(in Brit Accent) : You were absolutly Terri.....

Cardinal: You know i do lunch with the guy upstairs...

Simon: ..ribly Fantastic! I think were done here, what do you think Paula? Randy?
 
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