If you’re tired of hearing about Pope John Paul II, a lot of us are tired of hearing about how so many people admired him “despite his beliefs.”
Despite his beliefs?
Isn’t it just possible that his beliefs are what led him to greatness? That he was a giant of our times because of beliefs? That among the 4 million mourners in a city of 3 million, a few loved him not just because he was a swell guy?
By some, John Paul is excused his beliefs, as if they were a flaw, or worse. It’s almost as if every mention of his goodness had to be qualified by a disclaimer.
Something besides his personality has to help explain the enormous gathering that was surprising, spontaneous and beautiful. It was beyond our experience, beyond astonishing. Some mourners spent more time waiting in line to pay last respects than they did on planes getting to Rome from all corners of the world.
Now the witnessing, documentation and dissemination of this historic happening has apparently irked some, who say they’ve had enough of the media orgy, as if it was another O.J. Simpson trial. Or that the pomp and circumstance of a papal funeral is just too garish, too much of a waste, not what this good man would have wanted. Imagine how many starving children in Africa could have been fed, they say, ignoring the immense numbers of people around the world who are fed, clothed, cured and comforted by the church the pontiff headed. And by the people he inspired and by the beliefs they hold dear.
Some will insist the person, not the institution, was being honored. After all, Catholic bigots proclaim on the Internet, this church is responsible for 2,000 years of intolerance, hatred, injustice and warfare. The millions who are dying of AIDS in Africa are laid at the pontiff’s steps because by opposing artificial birth control he supposedly is directly responsible for the pandemic. So are crimes against women, inspired by this anti-choice, supposedly anti-woman tyrant.
Yet, both ends of the political spectrum claim a part of the man as their own. Liberals because he was against the Iraq war, the death penalty and for social justice. Conservatives because he was pro-life and a guardian of traditional cultural values. No doubt, the new pope will be closely examined the same way, through the prism of tiresome political labels.
Enough.
You don’t use a telescope to view atoms, nor do you use a sonogram to map the surface of Mars. Likewise, the pope’s beliefs transcend the usual political gabble. His legacy is more than good feeling that will wear off in a few weeks. If we want to honor Karol Wojtyla, honor his beliefs. Just as when we honor George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, we honor their devotion to democratic principles.
John Paul II was a shepherd, tending to the needs of more than 1 billion people. By itself, that’s enough to keep anyone occupied. But he was more; he was a messenger, trying to bring to a world that often won’t listen, the wonder and beauty of a personal God. From John Paul II’s relationship with his God flowed the good in him.
Was John Paul perfect?
Certainly, he didn’t think so. Even the custodians of faith are human, and subject to mistakes–the rarely invoked and mysterious claim to infallibility in matters of faith and morals (but not politics or public policy) aside.
You might not share his religious, moral or philosophical beliefs, but in his departing, you would be wrong to strip the importance of them to him, and to the faithful. Among all the things that you leave behind–your legacy, if you will–when you depart this world are the beliefs and principles that shaped your life. They stay behind in the hearts and minds of those who hold and nurture them. And who remember your example.
The mourners did not offend dignity by their massive presence and spontaneous outbursts at the Vatican, at a ceremony some might have thought was too heavy with hierarchical punctiliousness. Quite the contrary; the grandeur of it all was a fitting tribute. A moment of renewal for millions and testimony to his beliefs. Il papa, observing how his efforts inspired such love, would have loved it.
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Dennis Byrne is a Chicago-area writer and consultant. E-mail: [email protected]