Farewell Pope John Paul II

Like many, many others, we swere glued to the TV all day, watching CNN and MSNBC for updates on the Pope's condition.  As soon as I got up this morning, I got online and went to the CNN site to see if the inevitable had happened over night.  We ate breakfast and drank our coffee while watching MSNBC, and other than puttering around the house, we stayed in front of the TV all day long.  The inevitable did some shortly after 3:30 when the world received the news that Pope John Paul II had died.  He was 84 years old.

John Paul II's papal legacy began in October 1978, when he was elected Pop.  He was the first Pole to be elected Pope, as well as the first non-Italian Pope in almost 500 years.  He  was not content to just stay in the Vatican and run the Catholic church.  He travelled extensively six or more times a year during his 27 year reign as head of the Catholic church.  One trip that stands out in my mind was when John Paul II conducted mass at Auschwitz.  One of the Cardinals, also from Poland, refused to go to Auschwitz, and the Pope firmly told him that he would go.  John Paul told him simply "forgiveness leads to redemption."

Just days after my high school graduation in May of 1981, I remember watching a soap opera with my Grandma when they broke in and said that the Pope had been shot in an assassination attempt.  After almost a month in the hospital, the Pope was back at work.  Just a few months after the attempt on his life, the Pope visited his would-be assassin, and forgave hime.  After the assassination attempt, the Pope travelled in a new bullet-proof car called the Popemobile.

During his reign as Pope, John Paul II met with world leaders, urging peace.  He had many meetings with Yassar Arafat, Gorbachev, and Fidel Castro.  In 1991, the Pope wrote a letter to President Bush and Saddam Hussein in attempt to avert the Gulf War.  He did the same 12 years later, also to no avail.

In 2003, the Vatican officially announced that the Pope had Parkinson's Disease.  The world watched over the next 12 years as he grew weaker and weaker, but he never gave up.  Even on his death bed today, he urged everyone to pray for love, joy and peace. 

I like to believe that after Pope John Paul II walked through the pearly gates of heaven this afternoon, he found Mother Theresa waiting for him with a big hug.  I feel confident that John Paul II heard the words "well done, good and faithful servant."