Once again Pope John Paul II escaped death

Once again, Pope John Paul II escaped death. He returned to the Vatican after a stay in a hospital in Rome and we see the familiar window, his face expressing his suffering and courage, with a voice sometimes barely audible. Even the enthusiastic like me, this is an opportunity to reflect on what the world will lose when the Pope's body will succumb eventually to his headaches.

The picture that emerges is a mixture of colors. For those who view the collapse of communism in 1989 as a major event in the history of the 20th century, Pope John Paul II is a hero. In Poland, he was the focus of all activities of civil society. While in other countries, particularly in Romania, but also in what was at the time Czechoslovakia so that in Hungary, the alternative to communism was a empty or, at best, a few isolated organizations in civil society, the Poland had another source of legitimacy. Before and after his election, the then cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow was its most effective representative.

The appointment of cardinal Wojtyla papacy had a significance far beyond the confines of the Church. Itself did not really like that the church be identified to a civil society. In a conversation, he raised against this fact: no, the Church is not a civil society, it is a sacred society."

This points to another aspect of the pontificate of John Paul II, more speaking to insiders than to foreigners. In terms of doctrine and ethics, John Paul II represented the conservative point of view. He was the counterpoint of Pope John XXIII, who, through the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, and in many other ways, tried reconcile Catholics with the modern age. Pope John Paul II stopped this process and even tried to reverse it. For progressive theologians like Hans Küng, it was, and is a force of anti-modernism, or even a therefore. At the same time, the Pope became the first large traveling pontiff of modern times, almost a symbol of a globalized world. This meant that its image, if not his words, reached out to millions of individuals who do not belong to his Church. The number of individuals who could be recognized both on the surface of the globe as John Paul II has on the fingers of the hand.

By that fact alone, he added a spiritual dimension in an era dominated by concerns, such as wealth and worldly. Those of us who believe in a multidimensional culture will be grateful for his enormous efforts, and thus his "Catholicism" in the original sense of the word, its all-embracing concerns.

On the other hand, and despite his global reach, Pope John Paul II cannot be described as particularly Ecumenical. The beginnings of Christian ecumenism under his predecessors not much grew during his twenty-six years. Paradoxically, it has found to be easier to reach out to non-Christian religions. The dialogue between Catholics and Jews in particular was in good hands with him. When a distinguished Jewish scholar thanked him for what he had done to cultivate relations between Catholics and Jews, he replied: "It wasn't me, but Providence", then added, with his inimitable smile: "And I."

He was a man of peace Yes, no doubt. But his reign spans a time in which numerous regional conflicts have become violent. He could not do much to Kosovo or the Congo.

The years of the pontificate of John Paul II have not really been a period in which the "soft power" could accomplish much wherever it is, so that the famous question of Stalin, "Pope." How many divisions has he, him ", has remained current. It was all the more relevant that Pope John Paul II was not pleased by the United States. Some indications that he shared the old prejudice of Central Europe to America, which he sees as a materialist civilization providing the means, but not the ideas for the actions to be undertaken.

The Pope's legacy is, in other words, a story of great strengths and considerable weaknesses. It would however incomplete if it did not refer to the human being warm, curious, friendly and humorous behind. Pope John Paul II is, in many ways, an intellectual; It could be underestimated in this regard. However, it is also a simple man who is connected to others without effort. He bore his suffering since the attempted assassination of 1981 with dignity. As a person, he has never failed to impress many visitors. Even in its current reduced state due to his illness, Pope John Paul II symbolizes human potential.