[Salvation]

Ollie North

	Oliver North: "Be Not Afraid"
	April 7, 2005 Washington, D.C. -- "Be not afraid!" No better eulogy can be written for Pope John Paul II than this exhortation from his inaugural Mass on October 22, 1978. His simple statement resonated from the halls of the Kremlin to the streets of Eastern Europe, from the jungles of Central America to the oppressed tending rice paddies in Communist China. These words even touched hearts here in secular America. Those three words -- "Be not afraid" -- from Matthew, quoting Christ's command to a group of fearful men in peril on a dark and dangerous sea -- defined who he was and what he did. At every opportunity, this man who would become the most loved, viewed, and likely one of the most feared men on earth, urged fearlessness in the face of all that life offers -- right up to death itself. Loved? Certainly. Viewed? No doubt. More than 100 million people in 129 countries can claim to have seen him -- not on a screen -- but in person. But feared? Yes, John Paul was indeed feared by despots and dictators, the cruel and those who would deny the sanctity of human life that he espoused in every sermon and in all of his writings. His faith, strength of character, and devotion to the dignity of every person informed everything he did. Those virtues are terrifying to tyrants and can change hearts in ways that military force and economic might never can. Best of all, his life will continue to inspire. Few know the given name of any of this pope's predecessors. But almost everyone who has ever heard of John Paul II know that he was once a parish priest, Karol Wojtyla. And because of all that has been said and written of him, hundreds of millions of people know that his courage and steadfastness were forged in the crucible of adversity -- first under the boot of Nazi oppression -- and ultimately beneath the Soviet proxies who ruled Poland after World War II. In the early 1950s, the communist regime constructed Nowa Huta, a "model city" on the outskirts of Krakow. When Archbishop Karol Wojtyla discovered that this new "worker's paradise" wouldn't have a church, he set out to change their minds. He lobbied the apparatchiks. They ignored him. He went to the Communist Party authorities. They threatened him. So he went to the people -- and began badgering the bureaucracy for a permit to construct a place of worship. Increasingly vexed, officials vowed to restrict the annual Corpus Christi procession through Krakow to a single walk around the cathedral. The threat prompted a wonderful example of the future pope's courage and wit: "I am inclined to think that such actions do not favor the process of normalization between the Church and the State." In 1967 when the permit to build a church in Nowa Huta was finally granted, it was Archbishop Wojtyla who swung a pickaxe to break ground. Though his message was spiritual -- not political -- the demise of the Evil Empire can be traced to his tenure as Archbishop of Krakow. Karol Wojtyla had braved threats of arrest to preach, "We are citizens of our country, the citizens of our city, but we are also a people of God which has its own Christian sensibility. ... We will continue to demand our rights. They are obvious, just as our presence here is obvious. We will demand!" In 1979, as Pope John Paul II, he took that message back to his native Poland and inspired millions of his countrymen who ignored government intimidation to hear and see him. His message, "Be not afraid," resonated in Gdansk, with the rise of "Solidarnosc" -- Lech Walesa's famous "Solidarity" labor union. On New Year's Day 1982, less than a month after the communists in Poland declared martial law and arrested thousands of Solidarity activists, John Paul denounced the "false peace of totalitarian regimes." There was no moral equivocation. The message was clear and the result was certain: truth was superior to falsehood; the light of hope would dispel the darkness of despair; and the freedom inborn in every human being could not be crushed by all the theories, laws, and chains devised by man. John Paul II didn't just admonish others to "Be not afraid," he lived that way himself. Though he'd nearly been killed by an assassin's bullet in 1981, he insisted on traveling again as soon as he was able. Some were critical of his decision to do so, but he was never rash or unresponsive to good advice. In 1983 while the pope was enroute to visit El Salvador, our government intercepted a communication between two FMLN terrorist cells, discussing where the Marxist guerrillas would ambush his motorcade. I was dispatched to the Papal Nuncio with the raw intercept to urge that he advise the pope to use an alternative route. He did so and the ambush was averted. As I was leaving, the Cardinal sought to reassure my concerns about sending a message to the papal aircraft by telling me, "Don't be concerned, we sent it in code. No one has ever broken the Vatican code." By the time he left us, Pope John Paul II had faced the hectoring of Sandinista mobs in Managua, told Castro to free his people, and delivered the same message to Mikhail Gorbachev. Through it all, his life was a witness to his faith. We are poorer for his departure, but eminently better for his life. In a world that increasingly devalues human life and exalts "choice" at the altar of the self, the selfless service of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, inspired billions and shook the foundations of the world. "Be not afraid," indeed.

[Salvation]

Radio Address by the President to the Nation, 04-09-05 [About Pope John Paul II]

For Immediate Release
April 9, 2005

President's Radio Address

     Audio

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week I have been in Rome to attend the funeral mass of Pope John Paul II. The ceremonies were a powerful and moving reminder of the profound impact this Pope had on our world. And on behalf of America, Laura and I were honored to pay tribute to this good and holy man.

During nearly three decades on the Chair of St. Peter, this Pope brought the gospel's message of hope and love and freedom to the far corners of the Earth. And over this past week, millions of people across the world returned the Pope's gift with a tremendous outpouring of affection that transcended differences of nationality, language and religion.

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The call to freedom that defined his papacy was forged in the experiences of Pope John Paul's own life. He came to manhood during the Nazi occupation of his beloved Poland, when he eluded the Gestapo to attend an underground seminary. Later, when he was named Poland's youngest bishop, he came face to face with the other great totalitarianism of the 20th century: Communism. And soon he taught the communist rulers in Warsaw and Moscow that moral truth had legions of its own and a force greater than their armies and secret police.

That moral conviction gave the man from Krakow a confidence that inspired millions. In 1978, when he looked out at the crowd in front of St. Peter's as their new Pope, the square rang with his words "Be Not Afraid."

Everywhere he went, the Pope preached that the call of freedom is for every member of the human family because the Author of Life wrote it into our common human nature.

Many in the West underestimated the Pope's influence. But those behind the Iron Curtain knew better, and ultimately even the Berlin Wall could not withstand the gale force of this Polish Pope.

The Pope held a special affection for America. During his many visits to our country, he spoke of our providential Constitution, the self-evident truths about human dignity enshrined in our Declaration, and the blessings of liberty that followed from them. It is these timeless truths about man, enshrined in our founding, the Pope said, that have led freedom-loving people around the world to look to America with hope and respect. And he challenged America always to live up to its lofty calling. The Pope taught us that the foundation for human freedom is a universal respect for human dignity. On all his travels, John Paul preached that even the least among us bears the image of our Creator, so we must work for a society where the most vulnerable among us have the greatest claim on our protection.

And by his own courageous example in the face of illness and suffering, he showed us the path to a culture of life where the dignity of every human person is respected, and human life at all its stages is revered and treasured.

As the Pope grew physically weaker, his spiritual bond with young people grew stronger. They flocked to him in his final moments, gathering outside his window to pray and sing hymns and light candles. With them, we honor this son of Poland who became the Bishop of Rome, and a hero for the ages.

Thank you for listening.