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The Forum > Article Comments > Pope John Paul II - a natural leader > Comments

Pope John Paul II - a natural leader : Comments

By Conrad Gershevitch, published 11/4/2005

Conrad Gershevitch argues whatever your faith you have to respect Pope John Paul II and his achievements.

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The pope did care for the poor and was frustrated that he was not able to do more to feed the hungry.
I wonder if he would have been prepared to ask that all the world leaders to stay at home and watch his funeral on TV and then donate the savings of the trip to Rome to the poor.

He preached Peace and his bishops in the US ignored the message.
Poland rushed off troops to Iraq in spite of the Pope's appeal.

Peace
Posted by Peace, Monday, 11 April 2005 7:11:55 PM
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I'll probably be flamed for saying this, but I take a dim view of the deceased Pope's 'achievements'. I'm not a catholic, and am agnostic by faith.

Many in the press have sung this man's praises, and I would certainly not wish to cast doubt, or disregard these. But for me he failed in three main areas;

i. Comdenation of the use of Condoms for birth control and as a means of stopping the spread of STVs. More than anything is this not a massive failure. Could AIDS in Africa have not been at least significantly slowed by a different appraoch?

ii. Refusal to specifically condemn and apologise for the systematic sexual abuse that occured at all levels within the Catholic church during the 20th century.

iii. Refusal to recognise equality of worship for women. For me, the pope has sent a clear message to his followers - women are not good enough. Same goes for homosexuality.

People in the west do not realise how literally the Catholic church's word is taken in some areas of the world. A real opportunity was lost to improve sexual health, and attitudes towards women, homosexuals and in relation to abuse. They were not taken.

For me, the pope was a failure.

R.
Posted by Ramas, Wednesday, 13 April 2005 4:07:02 PM
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