POPE'S ASTONISHING POWER HAS CHANGED THE WORLD

Spirit Daily ^ | July 27, 2002 | Michael Brown

[NYer]

From where I sit, Pope John Paul II is just across Lake Ontario. I'm visiting family in Niagara Falls, and from here you can nearly feel his power. It is not a political power. It's not so much a cultural force. It's a spiritual power -- a holy power. John Paul is the most powerful man on earth not because he controls an army or even because he leads a Church with more than one billion members, but because he is surrounded by the Holy Spirit.

That Spirit has descended on him because his life has been one of prayer, longsuffering, and sacrifice. Men cry in his presence -- uncontrollably. Women say they can feel his presence before he's even visible. Youths cheer as if the 82-year-old were a rock star. And the world has been changed by his presence. He has changed the world.

This is something the press doesn't like to report: that Karol Wojtyla, now known as Pope John Paul II, has affected mankind more than any other person in at least a century. Although we are quick to forget, for much of the twentieth century mankind lived under the constant threat of Communist Russia (as forecast at Fatima) and it was only through the intervention of John Paul II -- who prayed, who fasted, who directed Lech Walesa -- that Communism fell. Think of this: the man who was shot on the Fatima anniversary day of May 13, 1981, and whose shooting seemed presaged by the famous third secret and who himself became instrumental in releasing the third secret then became the instrument through which Communism -- the key concern at Fatima -- was defeated (at least in Europe and at least for the time being).

The greatest nemesis to Christianity, the red dragon -- which threatened to conquer the world and which threatened to annihilate our very belief in God -- was staved off by this heroic man due to his consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart and through the purity of his life, which proves the power of celibacy.

Celibacy is like fasting and with fasting we can stop wars and even suspend the laws of nature.

This is what Karol Wojtyla, the Pope of the Fatima secret, has done, and it is a lesson to all the Church at a time when many question the issue of celibacy. Granted, one does not have to be celibate to be holy. There are married ministers and Orthodox priests who exude goodness -- and who have been heroic. There are married saints.

But the power behind John Paul II goes beyond what we see anywhere else, and as a result, he is subject to attack. There are those who dissent from him, who ridicule his age, or who defame him. This happens among radical Catholics as well as protestants (some of whom make the absurd, demented claim that he is the "anti-christ"; we saw one such radical website slip an article through our own net). In other cases, as with the media, they simply ignore his accomplishments.

But such is the power of John Paul that even those who don't attend church, or are not even Catholic, know he is the essence of goodness, a close link to God, a very close link, and he is this example to us all: that with self-sacrifice, with prayer and fasting, anything can be done, whether in our own lives or across this troubled planet. And it is through that self-immolation -- which continues with every labored step he takes -- that John Paul comes about as close as a human can to a state of perfection.

[NYer]

But such is the power of John Paul that even those who don't attend church, or are not even Catholic, know he is the essence of goodness, a close link to God, a very close link

I have noticed several posts on various "papal" threads, from non catholics, acclaiming the Holy Father. It has also been said that at each World Youth Day, many conversions and calls to religious life take place. I saw it last night in the faces of those assembled to watch the Way of the Cross. It would have been even better, if the cardinals had not spoken at the end (IMHO). Just leave the work to the Holy Spirit who is ever present at these events. God Bless.

[yendu bwam]

I saw it last night in the faces of those assembled to watch the Way of the Cross.

I also. I asked my kids to watch. I saw something good in their faces as well.

[St.Chuck]

Excellent post. And timely. You would think that at least Freepers (political conservatives) would appreciate John Paul's significant contributions to the geopolitical landscape.

[ultima ratio]

I have a real problem with your post. Sure, you are carried away with emotion--but emotion makes for bad Catholicism. It blinds us to truth. Let me remind you: it was during this pope's reign that an unprecedented wave of scandals have washed over the Church. Dioceses around the world are packed with apostate bishops and cardinals. A gay subculture is flourishing in our seminaries and parishes. The problem has been worsening for decades--from the days before John Paul II was shot. He has known about it and done nothing. It has only worsened. Excessive adulation is wrong because it is a sin against the First Commandment. This is a man, not God. He is infallible in a very restricted area of the Faith. I suggest you look at the mixed picture his papacy presents.

[Iowegian]

Don't go giving them a dose of true reality now, it won't win you any friends here. What they want is another "praise the Pope" thread.

[LadyDoc]

it was during this pope's reign that an unprecedented wave of scandals have washed over the Church. Dioceses around the world are packed with apostate bishops and cardinals

Actually, the scandals have their roots in the church of Paul VI. And modernism goes back to the turn of the century, when Pius X wrote an encyclical against modernism.

And as for "all the church" scandals, what you see is a few 20 year old scandals being blasted all over. They are terrible, but not universal, nor even common. Many European and US bishops are wishy washy in defending the faith, and after JPII dies, many of us suspect that Europe and much of the US will schism away from Rome.

What is little noticed however is that most Christians live in the third world.

The Episcopal church in the US and UK is being revitalized by missionaries from Africa and Asia.

And if you look in most diocese that still strongly defend the faith, you will find that they have priests from other countries working here. We just ordained a priest from Kenya to work in the local inner city. And my mother's parish has a young Vietnamese priest who came here as a refugee as a child.

The US church is fat and lazy, but don't judge the church by one small country.

[Lady In Blue]

Thanks very much for the thread.Bumping for a later read.

[Siobhan]

You are not a Roman Catholic. The arrogance you display in attacking the Holy Father shows that you are beyond the pale of your rights under Canon Law, and the spirit of dissent which is present in your posts shows you to be an enemy of the Holy Father and an enemy of Holy Mother Church.

You are using a new screen name, but you are churning out old invective against the Pope. If you continue to post in this fashion you will find that you have crossed the wrong "Mother Bear", and I will oppose you at every turn.

[Siobhan]

We can always count on enemies of the Pope to crew together.

[Iowegian]

Crew together? I see that you have proved me exactly right with your post on the other "praise the Pope" thread. You guys can't handle anyone giving you any disagreements, is your faith so weak? So predictable.

[ultima ratio]

Let me tell you something. For years the parishioners of the Springfield, IL Diocese suffered under a bad bishop. He introduced sex education in Catholic elementary schools and had small kids learning about oral sex and putting condoms on bananas. He hit on young priests and slept with them. He took teenage male prostitutes to his bedroom regularly. He appointed a priest who was a known practicing homosexual as the chancery bureaucrat in charge of sexual abuse complaints. Finally some Catholic lawyers got a dossier of proofs of malfeasance and they took it to the papal nuncio. Do you know what happened? Absolutely nothing. Finally the laymen went public and used the media to publicize this bishop's outrageous behavior. They brought on one of his boyfriends who was able to describe the bishop's bedroom, even his underwear. Of course he resigned. But it went on for over a decade despite protests to the Vatican.

So what, you say? The Pope didn't know, you say? But it is his duty to know! This was in the eighties when he was still robust. But people suffered because of so many incredibly bad appointments. Not just perverts, but apostates also, men with less Faith than the average church-on-Sunday Catholic. These were our spiritual shepherds!

The Pope is a holy man, but he has been unfocused and wasteful in his leadership. I grant he writes fine encyclicals expressing many profundities from a phenomenologist's perspective. I grant he is even a great statesman. I grant he has incredible charisma. But he has been a bad steward and a failure as a pope.

[Siobhan]

Rubbishing a man is not merely criticism of his ideas.

When you or someone else decides to trash the Pope, I will challenge and oppose you at every turn.

Moreover, you know nothing about my faith. It is stronger than diamonds, and more dependable than the earth under your feet. Jesus Christ be praised.

[Siobhan]

But he has been a bad steward and a failure as a pope.

If you were a Roman Catholic, you would know that it is not your place to judge the Holy Father's exercise of his ministry. You are ultimately no different than Archbishop Weakland in this.

[narses]

Ignoring (if you can) his office, he is a man worthy of great praise. Read about him, study his life. His vision of a world torn between the spiritual and the secular, between atheism and faith, has led to a geopolitical revolution. And, he is in fact, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

[ultima ratio]

You really should mature in your faith and not place all your hope on someone who is, after all, a human being like yourself. Who has been responsible for appointing the Laws and the Mahoneys and the Weaklands? And this is happening all around the globe. If even Job dared to criticize God (and God approved of Job since he spoke the truth in his complaints!) why can't a cradle Catholic criticize this Pope? This is pope-worship pure and simple, it is not Catholic.

[Siobhan]

The river of arrogance that flows from your fingers is astounding.

[NYer]

ultima ratio signed up 2002-07-25.

Welcome to Free Republic.

As a child, I was taught that it is easy to see "the bad" in a person. Finding "the good" is the challenge.

Having read your litany of wrongdoing by this pope, I would expect that you can now provide us with your list of the Holy Father's good graces.

[ultima ratio]

You say the US church is fat and lazy. You make my point. It was robust and vital in the fifties before Vatican II. Since then church attendance has dropped from 74% in 1950 to 17% today. Why? Christ said: by their fruits you shall know them. This corruption is not as inconsequential as you suppose. The scale and the nature of the evil is unprecedented in modern times. Seminarians cruising gay bars on weekends. Bishops hitting on young priests and seminarians. A cardinal writing a letter of praise for a priest he knew had raped a six-year-old. No repremand from the Pope. No scolding in Rome of the cardinals. A little p.r., a luncheon, business as usual. And this has gone on for twenty years.

I grant there are good priests. I know so many of them. I was a seminarian myself in the 80's and met many fine devout young men. But I met weirdos as well-- too many of them. What troubled me most was the lack of faith. The Blessed Sacrament, for instance, was kept in a room in the basement. Only myself and one other guy ever made a visit. It wasn't too long after that bad experience with phony priests and sexually active seminarians that I turned to traditional Catholicism. The difference is like day and night.

[sinkspur]

It was robust and vital in the fifties before Vatican II.

There are 20 million more Catholics in America today than in the 50s.

Since then church attendance has dropped from 74% in 1950 to 17% today.

Back up these numbers. Also, the decline in Church attendance began in the mid-50s, and they affected every Christian denomination.