RIP Karol Woityla (Pope John Paul II)

A sad day for many... RIP

Currently listening to...

I've been on the phone with my family back home. It truly is a sad day in Poland.

This really is a sad day. The Catholic people have not only lost one of the most beloved popes of all time, but the world has lost an academic giant and social activist who has upheld human rights on all scales. He will be most notably remembered for his assitance in the end of Communism in the old USSR.

He was totally the dude.

A man who loved Peace can be respected - loved - no matter what his religious calling.

The world has lost such a man.

He went to Venezuela when I was a kid and saw him in two separate places. First time was in La Paz, where a huge land area was made the largest church camp I've seen in my life. Me and my family where waiting somewhere along the path the Pope-car was going to take, and there we saw him at maybe less than 20 feet passing by slowly waiving his hand and smiling. A peaceful face. The second time was shortly afterwards in the stadium of the Universidad Central, this was a special event just for the student Venezuelan youth. So imagine a large open stadium full of young adolescent students of all schools from Venezuela, and when I say full I mean all the bleachers + the field. The only area not full of kids was the stage where the pope was going to appear. We had to be there very early, more than three hours before he arrived. We all had small Venezuelan flags, and also some sort of Pope related flag. During all this time waiting for him there was music and games etc. When the Pope car was approaching the stadium some person through the loudspeakers notified that, and the roar we all started to yell was one of the loudest sounds I've heard in my life. I perfectly remember completely yelling my lungs out, and I couldn't hear at all my own voice, the loudness was so powerfull, every one was absolutely insanely yelling their lungs out, everyone waiving their flags and jumping, and I was exactly doing the same, and that noise and the excitement was all there was, it was unreal. This humongous roar lasted for about 10-15 minutes, till his person appeared on the stage, when it went even louder and steadier probably for 5 more minutes till we were ordered to calm down. I'm in spirit a very mystic sort of person, but even though my family is catholic I am not. However even as a young kid it's easy to recognize when someone has earned a lot of respect and admiration, when someone is really remarkable at a global level. That night was an experience I'll certainly never forget. RIP most friendly Pope.

I remember my mum waking me in the morning when the last pope died and telling me about it - Didn't mean much back then but it does now.Whenever i hear anything about him it makes me think of his Spitting Image puppet (He's the cool looking dude in the shades!) and i smile Rest in peace PJP

sad day it is.

Head-Fi'ers --

What a religious icon that he was for Catholics...
Even as a Lutheran, I mourn with all of my heart.
Being Polish, though -- I am completely empathetic.

My nationality cannot hold a candle to his religious significance...
But, I will hold him in my heart forever, nonetheless... Rest in peace...

May the heavens care for him as he as cared for the entire human race.
He provided inspiration for so many people, of religious lineage or not.

He will be severely missed.

BANGPOD

P.S. I hope that I did not cross any political or religious lines in the above...

My 21 year old daughter commented on how much world power the Pope had to enforce on other nations leaders. My devout Catholic wife said that as Pope he really doesn't have any real power to enforce anything, anywhere aside from Catholics. I just told my daughter that when you land your plane in Russia's back yard or knock on the front door of Castro's place in Cuba, and then proceed to tell both heads of state about freedom of religion and human rights in demanding terms, you earn a "John Wayne" like reputation that people take more seriously than any elected or given power. With all world leaders, the Pope recieved tremendous respect, weather they like what he had to say or not. The powerful hold he had on the world was earned, not given, as will be his rightfull place in heaven. He was not at all bashfull in telling world leaders like it is and how it should really be. He went to unsafe places other Popes would never go and did so fearlessly bringing love and compassion. Irregardless of your faiths, the Pope (and other like him of all faiths) help to weave a tighter moral fabric into society. And we all benifit by that in having a kinder world to live in. He will be sorely missed.

(I hope that the following is appropriate given the circumstances.)

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not
disappointed.
--Psalm 22, 3-5

A hymn in remembrance of Pope John Paul II.

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

I am old enough to remember when karol was chosen as pope from among the cardinal candidates and he was not on anyones list of "possibles" before he was actually chosen and the news organisations had to scramble to come up with any information on who he was and what could possibly have vaulted him over the pre-selection favorites.

Back then there was a very real split among the conservative wing and the leftist/activist wings of the Catholic Church with each side backing a particular candidtate for control and the future direction of the church :

Traditional,standing back and just administering the sacraments as per the Catholic church charter or activist and politically involved in events such as the at the time War in Nicaraugua where many sided with the leftist guerillas.(who later went on to be stripped of their priesthood for disobeying the orders from Rome to stay out of taking sides,to administer to the individual and not the group or government)

This "unknown" who rose from the split by those who walked the middle wanting neither of the two factions to gain power.Once "known" turned out to be a very remarkable human by any standards.

Survivor of Hitlers band of cut throats who if you know history ravaged poland and the polish people then when that ended suffering the rule of the Soviet Union-every bit as nasty as hitlers troops in their suppression of the Polish people and the Catholic faith.

so there was some real iron there,some actual strength brought about by living through tough times under oppressive regimes rather than "studying it" from a distance talking about it.This meant a connection to the oppressed of the world as one of kindred spirits and not just lip service.When you share a thing you have a unique perspective of that thing.

Then there was the fluency of many languages.Most humans speak their native tongue and no more or are bilingual at best but this man was multilingual and rather than take an elitist "this is my language and if you don't understand it too damn bad" he would before visiting another country learn the language if he did not already know it and speak to the people in their own native tongue.
To the people this was no small thing and when he spoke of brotherhood and the people not only heard it in their own language but from a person who had in life suffered the very things they either had or still were suffering there was a connection made.A connection that someone less sincere,someone who talked it but did not walk it would never have made with the people.


No matter what your religous beliefs or lack of you can only admire a person who gives and continued to give when it would have been far easier to quit.
Even after he was shot in an assasination attempt,through illness after illnesss this man never bitched once but thought of others first up until the very end.It would have been easy to just hang out in the vatican, relax and wave out the window on ocasion these last few years but that was not this mans way.He still made an attempt at every oppurtunity to visit where he felt he was needed and administer because it was his job and reponsibility and there was never any quit considered

He is finally getting a well deserved rest and will be missed by many.Not all, but enough to mean at least he made some difference and left a mark on this planet.A mark that those downtrodden in the countries he visited will remember for the rest of their days

just a little history lesson as I remeber it added to my personal "non religous" opinion of the man.Means nothing but had to be said.

Here's a tip for RIP threads, for future reference: If you've got nothing nice to say, it's best to stay out of the thread. (I posted this because I just deleted a post, and I know other moderators here have deleted several others.)

I hope Woityla will remain alive in the heart and mind of this world, and know that the next pope will inherit from him a set of crucial tasks for this world he'll have to take on for the next years.
I don't even know if is even possible for people to realize how much his life and travelling meant to the peace of this world' future.
I'm not catholic, at least not only since I have more then one belief, and keep them togheter rather then adequate to one; anyhow my christian part wants to say that even if he's been primarly and universally known in the world as the symbol of the christian religion, he contributed in a massive way to make this world more a one world rather then hundred differents and to literally unite a moltitude of people/credences togheter under common beliefs ( peace compassion freedom brotherhood and understaning to mention the most obvious), his life really meant a lot on this and his ways of thinking/methods/travellings/getting in touch with people and problems have been revolutionary and rather distant from a std. churchy and ecclesiastic one, and he will be remembered as one of the most important man and living spirit of this world of this century by human cultures.
May your body rest in peace and your spirit alive to bring your message and unite the world under the common good.

Rest in peace old man. I'll never agree with much of what you did. But there's no doubt you believed in it, and that you did it because you believed it was the the right and moral thing. I'm glad you won't do any more damage, but I wish there were more people like you who stood for what they believe in and make changes the world as a result of it.

Best regards,

-Jason (former Catholic, Georgetown University SFS '97)