It's almost impossible to capture even a fraction of all the coverage the Pope's death has generated. So many reminders, so many comments from all angles. Hard to digest all of them.
I'm not in a position to evaluate John Paul II's position among all the Popes because my knowledge of all Popes before him ranges from 'know a little' to 'sketchy' to 'know nothing at all'. Truth is, I find it easier to have an opinion on the Presidency of James Buchanan (President from 1857-1861) than on the Papacy of Pius IX (Pope from 1846-78), the only Pope (other than Saint Peter) to have held the position longer than John Paul II.
I definitely think he was a great man, one of the giants of the 20th century. He led (before and after his election as Pope) the non-violent movement to overthrow the Communist regime in Poland. He campaigned tirelessly for life and against the selfish materialism of modern western society. He was a champion of the poor and did a great job reaching out to other faiths, particularly Judaism (interesting reading in today's Jerusalem Post).
He had his failings, as all people do. His greatest short-coming as Pope was his failure to appreciate the extent to which, first the seminaries, then thousands of parishes throughout the English-speaking world (am I wrong that this is predominantly a N. American/Irish phenomenon?) were infested with sexual perverts and predators. He was far too slow in demanding tough action, although it does seem to me that not all dioceses experienced the depravity to the same extent that Boston, Dallas, Dublin and others did. Perhaps he thought it was a local problem, but he had too much faith in many of the men he appointed as Bishops.
Overall, however, he was great. I'm surprised at how much I'm feeling at a loss these past few days.
