ADMIN: The Death of the Pope

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "carolynwhite2" 
<carolynwhite2 at a...> wrote:

Carolyn:

<snip>

> The Pope represents a particular set of beliefs which many people 
> feel very strongly about. It may be possible to have an objective 
> discussion about the issues involved, but it is unlikely. The 
> messages which have been posted already imply that everyone can at 
> least agree he was a 'great' man, for instance - a POV which I find 
> extremely offensive, and profoundly disagree with.

Geoff:
Those of you who bother to read my ramblings on the main group will 
know that I am an evangelical Protestant Christian and, as such, I 
would profoundly disagree with many of the things which Catholics 
consider to be vital for their faith. I share with them the very 
basic belief that Christ died for us and rose again and offers 
salvation to those who truly believe in him. I accept that there are 
many people who do not hold that view but I believe that 
disagreements can still be expressed in a civilised way.

I feel I must disagree with Carolyn in her view of the late Pope and 
I think that many millions of people in Eastern Europe would do so 
too. A "great" man does not have to be flawless or a saint - or seen 
as such by outside observers. We in the UK have the example of 
Winston Churchill in that instance but I believe that God can use 
weak people, unbelieving people and flawed people to carry out his 
purposes.

I remember clearly watching with amazement and bated breath when the 
Pope returned to Poland in 1979 and encouraged Lech Walesa and his 
colleagues to continue with their stand in the Gdansk shipyard 
standoff - and it ultimately paid off. That was a catalyst to the 
weakening of the Communist hold over Eastern Europe and the eventual 
breaking of the chains which had held them for so long.

I was fascinated yesterday evening when the BBC ran a piece of 
archive film showing a meeting between John Paul II and Mikhail 
Gorbachov remembering how these two men, diametrically opposed in 
their world view, inspired to rewrite the political and geographical 
map of Europe in the late 1980s.