You say buried, I would say enriched, not under a mountain, but rather with a treasure chest. It's one thing to criticize the volume, quite another to justify a charge of heresy by citing volume.
Even JPII is now realizing that the Catholic Church has made itself entirely irrelevant (i.e. his recent comments on the EU).
First of all the Church is emminently relevent to practicing Catholics who believe in the efficacy of the sacraments, cherish Her historical patrimony, and are edified by Her eternal wisdom.
Secondly, I would tell the pope and anyone else that suspects the Church is irrelevent in the political and cultural sense to buck up and not be discouraged. President Bush doesn't think the Church is irrelevant, as he has met with the pope three times in his first term. The left wing media doesn't think the Church is irrelevant. Last night on "Now with Bill Moyers" a story on the religious right insinuated that Mr. Bush had pressured the Vatican to prod American bishops to do more to aid Mr. Bush's pro-life agenda, citing Archbishop Chaput's words and deeds specifically, as an example of the Church's alliance with the Bush agenda.
Furthermore, the phrase "culture of life" has become part of our political and moral lexicon. This also speaks to the enormous relevancy, not only of the Church, but to his Holiness, John Paul the Great. The Church is relevant. Don't doubt it for a minute.
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It's John Paul II. Not "John Paul the Great". Maybe the Pope would be "greater" if he denounced the U.N.'s policy regarding "reproductive health" and critcize Liberalism and Modernism with the vigor of St. Pius X.