John Paul II's Beatification

Although far too many hide behind a cloak of respectabilty, while their deeds don't match their "holy" words.

Don't forget either that for every Niemoeller and Bonhoeffer, there was a Bishop Dr. Ludwig Mueller of Berlin, an ARDENT Hitler supporter!

Can't say that I shared Benedicts' orthodoxy and there are some questions still about the protection of pedophile priests when he was an arch bishop, but one has to give him massive credit for his fight against sexual abuse first as a cardinal in Rome and then as a pope. Even his fiercest critics must admit that he was a massive step up from his predecessor in this regard.

He hid nothing; and his deeds and words matched.


I'm not sure why you put the word "ardent" in capitals.

And of course you're referring to people at least a generation older than him. It's as if you're trying to tar him with a Nazi brush whereas the reality is that unlike most Germans then and many since, he stayed well clear of them and consistently opposed them even as a child (since that of course was what he was during that period).

Which he lost coz the perverted Vatican lobby proved too strong. And that was one of the reasons he resigned.

@jon,
All I'm saying is that if there's a choice between which Pope I'd favor, Benedikt or John Paul, the latter is the one not laden with such weighty baggage!

He wasn't laden with baggage at all. He was a child during the third reich period and moreover a child whose family were opposed to the regime as he was at some risk to his young self.

As for baggage, there are people who suggest (rightly or wrongly, I have no opinion on the matter) that JPII was over-close with the PRL-era security services.

JP2 is one of the very few saints that performed the required two miracles while dead. Amazing...

John Paul was in the Polish Underground Resistance, wrote for "Tygodnik Powszechny" and was front and center regarding sexual abuse in the Catholic Church along with absolving the Jews of wrong, well ahead of any other Pontiff.

Then he crossed the line from serving God to being a politician.

Same difference, Rich!What's the problem with serving G-d from the Parliament vs. the pulpit? The Lord hears both as the same plea:-)

A politician is an elected official.

A religious leader also has principles and acts on them for the sake of his or her people according to their interpretation of God's message to humanity.

Spot on, jon!

Love is good. Hate is bad.

Easier said than done.