Sorry. But no. Changed the course of history? Yes. In good ways, but also in bad ways. Really really bad ways. Unacceptable bad ways. Heavily documented and irrefutable bad ways.
What happened to children around the globe in care of the church when he was Pope was not propaganda epluribus_2. It is called pedophilia.
Not only did he and his successors refuse to stop it when approached by victims, to this day the church refuses to do all it can to make things right.
Matthew 18:6 But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck.
Mark 9:42 'But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone hung round his neck.
The concept is important enough that it is recorded twice in the Gospels.
The Catholic church could very easily form an order to care for those who were damaged in it's care, and that would be orders of magnitude more helpful than monetary payouts. But to this day they refuse to do so on any significant scale.
John Paul II was reluctant at first to act, because the accusations coming in were that priests were homosexuals. He remembered that accusation being used against people behind the Iron Curtain to discredit them, so he was getting that same vibe. Finally he did act, and sent out directives to keep homosexual men out of the priesthood. The American Bishops ignored it, until Benedict XVI came along, and put his foot down.
No Catholic will ever defend the indefensible. Most of the sex abuse that took place dates back to the 50's and earlier, long before JPI. I would ask you, however, what is being done in non-Catholic communities to stop predatory sex abuse of children? This is not limited to the Catholic Church.
Sex Abuse of Children by Protestant Clergy.
The Catholic Church here, through its bishops in the USCCB, have implemented a program to prevent future occurrences. This includes all members of the community who come in contact with children, from janitors in the schools to volunteers who teach children at the parish level. We all are subjected to fingerprinting and a police background check. We are also required to attend classes on how to identify sexual predators and what actions to take. This is possible because of the centralized nature of the Catholic Church. It is also the reason why the media have been able to focus a laser beam on us. This is not possible in the non-Catholic denominations where there is no one to take responsibility.
Report: Protestant Church Insurers Handle 260 Sex Abuse Cases a Year
Worse still, is the sex abuse of children in the education system.
WHEN BOYS ARE MOLESTED BY TEACHERS AND OTHERS IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY
And then there are the camp counselors, Big Brothers of America and the list goes on and on. There is plenty of guilt to go around.