JPII Goin Home

Today Pope John Paul II, previously named Karol Wojtyla, died.

As a primarily non-practicing Catholic I still felt a connection and sorrow to this news. I disagree with the Church on many issues and am not a good Catholic, so I wonder tonight why this news still hits home. I suppose partly because my family members are all devout Irish and German Catholics, my brother's studying to be a priest, and I was raised within such a culture.

Regardless, I realize a great man of peace has died, aside from religion and the institutional position he held. Here are the reasons you should care:

• A man who tried to break the factions of millions of Muslims, Jews, and Christians, focusing much of his career on the simple idea of peace. He has fought for peace between Palestine and Israel, both calling Jews "older brothers" and meeting with Yasser Arafat to stop civil war. B'nai B'rith and other Jewish organizations testify that he helped Jews find refuge from the Nazis.

•John Paul was intent on improving relations with Muslims. On a trip to Damascus, Syria, in May 2001, he became the first pope to step into a mosque.

• As Victor Simpson writes, "(He was) a man who had lived under both the Nazis and the Soviets, (loathing) totalitarianism, which he called 'substitute religion.'" He influenced Eastern Europe away from a faulty communism, while also condemning capitalist callousness.

"The Holy Father was a beacon of light not just for Catholics, but for all people."
- Former President Bill Clinton