Papa Giovanni Paolo II

1920 - 2005




Matthew 16:18 (King James Version)
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

For 26 years, the world was blessed by his teachings and his love for mankind. He became pope in 1978, after the death of Pope Paul VI . Now we await his successor.

I am not Catholic, I am an American Southern Baptist. That however, does not keep me from loving him and mourning his passing. Our differences of opinion and theology are great, although the similarities are equally so.

Lately with the Terri Schiavo case we were all reminded how he felt about the sanctity of life. A man who has that kind of influence and fights for the rights of life, will find me on his side. I don't care about differences of theological opinion, his support of the Unborn and voiceless makes him a hero to me.

There were many causes he championed. One noble stance he took is abstinence. He helped to voice what we Conservative Christians have preached for ever. A relationship with Christ , and a moral approach to Sex is what we should be teaching our young. Not sending mixed signals that promote promiscuousness by providing unsafe condoms and birth control.

He was a young man in Krakow, Poland when Hitler sought the death of all he knew. It was living through the horrors of the holocaust that gave him perspective. It was that perspective he drew on when he stood with Reagan and Thatcher against Communism in Russia during the cold War. However, as I said we have some disagreements, and as proud of him as I was for his denouncement of the Holocaust and Cold War, I still cannot understand how he could not support the War on Terror.

We will spend the next 9 days waiting for the 135 (80 year old +) Cardinals to return to their conclave in Rome, where they will decide who will be the next Pope.It is the belief of Catholics that it is not actually the Cardinals who decide, but God through them who names the new pontiff.
For more than half of America this will be the first time they will experience the sights and sounds of these ceremonies, the likes of which most of us will never see again. It is no wonder that we feel a special bond with this Holy Pontiff. He has been Pope for nearly three decades. I am 33, I cannot remember Pope Paul VI. In my life, John Paul II has always been 'the ROCK on which Christ built his Church'. To me if there were ever a ponyiff deserving of the title started with Saint Peter, it is Pope John Paul II.

Please leave a message below and share with us the impact he had on your life. All are welcome to comment, however, hateful words will be stricken from my site.
God Bless you all.