Pope

[Nevermore]

Well, the Pope is dead. Poor old man. He died of sepsis caused by a UTI.

[Hellbender]

Poor guy. Pretty sad, he seemed to be in a lot of pain too.

[Pangloss]

One of those rare people I always felt I could completely disagree with, but still respect not only the person, but his opinion and how he came by having it.

[Hellbender]

Well said, pangloss.

[ecoli]

Alas, a great man has died.

[Bettina]

Sad.....

 

Geez....The more I read about him the more I liked him now.

 

Bettina

[Dave]

My condolences to him personally. I thought he was a great guy.

[In My Memory]

My fondest wishes go to the pope

[Auburngirl05]

I was raised Catholic but later left the church...but I have a deep respect for John Paul II, he did many great things and was a strong leader.

 

I know this is a devastating time for the Church, but I have to say that I am glad he's not suffering anymore, and can have a well-earned rest after a long, full life.

[Anarchaus]

Im sure that i speak for many people around the world:

 

earth has lost yet another kind soul.

[dan19_83]

Sad to see him die alright. I never realised that he was the third llongest serving pope of all time.

[Nevermore]

Pope John Paul II was different. He was compassionate and charitable.

[Mokele]

I'm not saying he wasn't a good man overall, nor that who's response was appropriate, but I *do* think that, after his death, people have been blindly ignoring his faults, while exaggerating his achievements and merits. To the point that I heard him credited with "the fall of communism."

 

Like I said, I'm not saying he wasn't generally a good old geezer, but, in my eyes, by distorting who he was and what he did (even in a favorable way), you're doing a dis-service to his memory. Maybe I'm projecting my desires onto him, but when I croak, I want to be remembered as how I *really* was, good and bad, not as some idealized version of myself.

 

Call me cynical, but I think those who are putting out this biased image of him are simply mourning the vesments, not the man who wore them. And I think that is we remember him in *all* his aspects, "warts and all" so to speak, and still see the good he's done, that's much more of a testament to his good nature than any two-dimensional idealization could ever be.

 

Mokele

[Coral Rhedd]

I think there are things I just do not understand about Catholicism. I did read at nytimes.com today how one cardinal all but said that it was important not to have birth control in order to teach the world compassion for the poor.

 

I guess he may have never been poor. Children suffer when their families live in serious poverty. They are not object lessons for the rest of us; they are individual humans who haven't enough to eat or proper medical care or sometimes even sanitary water.

 

If in all these years human beings have not learned compassion, having more children born into poverty is not likely to teach it.

[Nevermore]

1. Of course the Pope had his faults.

2. I'm not a catholic, I'm an atheist.

3. Um... I guess that's it.

[klanger]

I think there are things I just do not understand about Catholicism. I did read at nytimes.com today how one cardinal all but said that it was important not to have birth control in order to teach the world compassion for the poor.

 

I guess he may have never been poor. Children suffer when their families live in serious poverty. They are not object lessons for the rest of us; they are individual humans who haven't enough to eat or proper medical care or sometimes even sanitary water.

 

If in all these years human beings have not learned compassion' date=' having more children born into poverty is not likely to teach it.[/quote']

 

I couldnt agree with you more Coral, though I do think this whole topic should be in the religion section.

 

I am sure the pope was a much loved man by his followers, and that he probably did many good things during his time. However, that said..... I could do a lot of really good things for people if I had the monetery backing of the catholic church.

 

I do have issues with the catholic religion simply for the following:

 

God gave us free will........ but a good catholic wont use contraception

Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins........but a catholic has to repent to a mortal man to be forgiven.

 

I am not saying that catholics are wrong to believe, that is simply their right and comes under the heading of 'free will' I just dont think the pope was the bee all and end all. He lived to a good age and had wanted for nothing, in short he had a good life. Mother Theresa on the other hand was a totally different kettle of fish, and deserved all the love and praise she got for dedicating her life to helping people of all walks of life.

 

This of course is just my opinion, and I know there will be people that dont agree and thats fine. I wouldnt want to see anyone suffer so am glad that the pope is now out of pain and able to move onto the next plaine.

[Newtonian]

I *do* think that' date=' after his death, people have been blindly ignoring his faults, while exaggerating his achievements and merits. To the point that I heard him credited with "the fall of communism."

 

Like I said, I'm not saying he wasn't generally a good old geezer, but, in my eyes, by distorting who he was and what he did (even in a favorable way), you're doing a dis-service to his memory.[/quote']

I just dont think the pope was the bee all and end all. He lived to a good age and had wanted for nothing, in short he had a good life. Mother Theresa on the other hand was a totally different kettle of fish, and deserved all the love and praise she got for dedicating her life to helping people of all walks of life.

Everyones entitled to opinion however its usually beneficial if one actually reads something factual about the man in question.

Mokele perhaps you should take on board what you yourself posted and apply it to yourself.Its very apt.

Perhaps it would be a good thing to read these peoples bio's.I certainly would not say Karol Jozef Wojtyla had a 'good life'.

His resume of achievements since 1978 should rightly be acknowledged and lauded.

Its fitting one mentions mother Teresa as if supplanting the Popes goodness.Ive seen alot of criticism of the popes views over population(abortion ,human rights etc)as extreme.However people fail to realise that M.Teresa was a catholic nun,her motive for her work was of proselytization for religious fundamentalism, for the most extreme interpretation of Catholic doctrine.So if your cynical of the pope and citing mother Teresa then one really is misguided.