Hi George:
Always you bring your own spin to the facts. I would suggest that you read some books about John Paul's life and the impact to the Church.
Some comments to your e-mail:
1. Pope follows what Jesus defined: priesthood for man; Woman can and do have an important role within the Church (i.e. Mother Teresa, St Catherine of Sienna; Mother ANgelica,etc);
2.Priesthood is one way of becoming a good Catholic and seeking Sainthood; A married man can be a good Catholic and respectful to his wife and kids;
3. Pope is the moral voice ... each one of us has the freedom to accept or not; You can not blame the pope for the spread of AIDS!!!!!
4. You want to check how many trips he made to Africa and Asia and the growing number of vacation from that part of the World;
5. Millions have entered the Church. Watch the Apr 8th Mass at the vatican - roughly 60% below 35 years!!!! Watch EWTN, if you have any doubt!
Regards,
Joe
From: George Pinto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: goanet@goanet.org To: goanet@goanet.org, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet]John Paul II Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2005 09:31:38 -0700 (PDT)
All,
Almost everyone has an opinion on JPII, favorable or not. At a personal level, he was a good,
decent man who stood up for justice, the poor. However, in matters of Church doctrine he did not
move the Church forward. Infact, along with Ratzinger one could argue they took it back a few
decades. John XXIII was the last Pope to make serious changes (Vatican II). It is curious that the
late Pope's perceived major achievement is not related to matters of the Catholic Church - the
fall of communism. While he was a good decent man, I am not sure why the call for his sainthood.
What personal suffering (martyr) qualifies him or is it on the basis of profession of the faith?
Additionally, there is a difference between JPII the man and JPII the Pope. As Pope, I believe
these are some of the major failures of his papacy:
1. Women still barred from priesthood (behind this justification is the implied view that women
are not equal to men).
2. Priests cannot marry. Celibacy is not natural to most people forcing good priests to leave the
church or good men not to join.
3. Birth control and use of condoms in the spread of AIDS/HIV. It is true some Catholics ignore
the birth control sanction and that condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS/HIV is being promoted
by govt. agencies in Africa to fight the problem.
4. Inequality in the church. Most of the honors and MAJOR decision making still belong to Europe
even though the largest Catholic blocks and growing Catholic markets are in Asia, Latin America,
Africa.
5. Millions have left the Church during this conservative papacy. In Latin America there has been
a significant exodus to evangelicals. In Europe, the pews are mostly empty.
May his soul rest in peace. I am sure it will - if the Pope needs prayers the rest of us are
doomed ;-))
Regards, George
