Pope John Paul II RoundupGeorge Will calls him "a celebrant of freedom":
In an amazingly fecund 27-month period, the cause of freedom was strengthened by the coming to high offices of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and John Paul II, who, like the president, had been an actor and was gifted at the presentational dimension of his office. This peripatetic pope was seen by more people than anyone in history, and his most important trip came early. It was a visit to Poland that began on June 2, 1979.John Podhoretz
calls him the hero of the (20th) century:
He would not bend his church's teaching to the political whims and enthusiasms of the present moment, and for that reason he was foolishly and ignorantly condemned as a right-wing conservative reactionary.
By taking a stand on behalf of the transcendent, John Paul II was offering a standing rebuke to the most evil idea of the 20th century — the idea that it is acceptable to enslave or dispose of human beings in mass numbers in order to achieve radical political aims.I heard a little bit of CBS's coverage last night. They focused for the most part on the good stuff, although there was the predictable carping on not allowing women in the priesthood and the abortion/contraception issue. But I don't think the MSM's gripes are going to succeed in undermining the image of John Paul II as a giant for the ages.
