[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: ADMIN: The Death of the Pope

[Kathryn]

Geoff:

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.
 
K

Frankly if John Paul II was fulfilling God's purpose then I will have to
onsider becoming an atheist. I think he was a hypocrite in some cases. In
other cases it's all very well people saying he was a man of faith who had
deeply held beliefs but I think some of those beliefs were not only
misguided but wrong and verging on evil. Yes I did say evil.

His rulings on contraception were directly responsible for intensifying the
AIDS crisis in some areas of the world. It's all very well claiming that
fidelity will protect you but if you're being faithful, probably in part due
to lack of time and energy, as you struggle to make ends meet and feed your
8 children while living in a slum somewhere, but your husband is off
screwing an infected prostitute then it won't do you the slightest bit of
good. I understand that the Catholic Church believes contraception to be
wrong but this isn't a perfect world and the church should have been making
a stand saying that the condom is the lesser of two evils in my opinion.
Many of the people who are universally considered to have been evil
dictators are not as responsible for as many deaths as these rulings.

As for his political influence he actively encouraged Solidarity in Poland
but in Latin and South America he rebuked and punished priests for
supporting the left wing people's movements in their struggle against
right-wing dictatorships - saying that priests shouldn't get involved in
politics. Bearing in mind his own actions in Poland that was hypocritical in
the extreme. 

People are praising him for standing firm and having strong beliefs - but
for me many of those beliefs were wrong and I don't really care how honestly
he believed he was doing right I believe he was doing wrong.

The calls to rename him John Paul the Great just make me want to throw up in
disgust
 
 K

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