Roman Holiday (The world has seen few more champions of human freedom than Pope John Paul II)

Wall Street Journal ^ | Thursday, October 16, 2003 | REVIEW & OUTLOOK

[presidio9]

Throughout the papacy that began 25 years ago this day in Rome, many have underestimated Pope John Paul II. But not Leonid Brezhnev. From the start the Soviet leader seemed to appreciate that the pope's insistence on moral clarity and the primacy of the human soul was unleashing a gale force that even the Berlin Wall might not withstand.

[Rutles4Ever]

bump

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Ronald Regan, Pope John Paul and the Polish shipyard workers defeated Russian Communism. Gorby had nothing to do with it.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

From today's vantage point, the liberation of Eastern Europe and the discrediting of communism looks foreordained. But it certainly didn't look that way on October 16, 1978. Scarcely three years earlier Saigon had fallen to the North; a year later the Soviets would invade Afghanistan; Communist movements menaced Central America; and as [the anticommunist union] Solidarity grew in the Pope's native Poland so did the prospect of a Soviet invasion.

Journalists specialize in bad news, as we see in the "glass half empty" coverage of Iraq today. They justify that with a "just the news people are interested in, ma'am" defense. But somehow it doesn't have to be new to be news, if it's a 25th anniversary of Watergate.

John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher led us to the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and even of the heart of the Evil Empire, the Soviet Union. Their silver anniversaries are, individually and collectively, more important than anything bad journalism can rehash about Nixon. A man who, in any case, at least did not ultimately confuse his presidency with the good of the Republic and claim that the enforcement of a constitutional provision was an assault on the Constitution.

I don't expect to see big journalism dwell on the historical significance of a conservative figure on his silver anniversary. For that you must look to explicitly conservative outlets such as the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal. I would also not hold my breath waiting for history books written by academics to treat such subjects seriously; academics tend to treat journalism as "the first draft of history." And without amendment by reference to primary sources, the second draft of journalism is still just journalism.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Gorby had nothing to do with it.

Well . . . at least not intentionally.

[Okies love Dubya 2]

Thanks for posting this--I was only 5 years old when Pope John Paul II was elected, and I remember the excitement of it all. My late grandmother, a devout Catholic, was a great admirer of his, and she would be very happy to celebrate this day.

God bless you Pope John Paul II!!!! You have done so much in your time.

[Wright is right!]

It's been a remarkable quarter-century for this exceedingly humble yet energetic champion of the Lord's Word and Work. This Holy See just happened to be in convergence with the informational enlightenment of the world through technology, so he is no doubt the most widely known and universally-admired Pope in the long history of the Roman Catholic Church. It would be difficult to make a case for any other Pope having had a greater influence on the modern Church. He will, indeed, be quite long remembered and revered. And he will soon enjoy a very special place in Heaven.

I'm not Catholic, but I do have a special kind of love and respect for this Papa and an admiration for all the travels he's undertaken and all the lives he's touched for the better. We can all hope that his passage is painless and dignified.

Michael

[Arthur McGowan]

The Pope has had great successes and some great failures. The bishops in the U.S. whom he did not remove, and some of the ones he appointed--those have been his greatest failure. But he has given his all--his whole self, without reservation--to the Lord, and that's all that really counts. How few of us can say it of ourselves!

[presidio9]

I don't expect to see big journalism dwell on the historical significance of a conservative figure on his silver anniversary. For that you must look to explicitly conservative outlets such as the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal.

In fairness, New York Newday did run a pretty good op-ed piece on him yesterday, though the author could not help throwing in one irrelevant (and mis-informed) dig at him. USA Today has a flat-out hit piece on its cover. The article has to do with the Pope's "falling approval ratings." Talk about classless.

[presidio9]

I take back what I said about the New York Times. They did run a nice op-ed piece about him last week. Just nothing today on the anniversary. Bigger Than the Nobel

[presidio9]

ping

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You said it all, Michael. I was about 15 feet away from John Paul when he came to Living History Farms in Des Moines in 1979. I'm not Catholic but his mass was a very moving experience for me.

[presidio9]

I attended his visit to Shea in 1979, his first public apearance in the States. Peggy Noonan wrote about this event later (I think it was in her book "On Speaking Well," but I'm not positive). Her description was perfect. I was 8 or 9 at the time. I remember it being very cold and rainy. I remember being most happy about the fact that I was getting to miss school for this. But mostly I remember, as does everyone else who was there, that when the gate in center field opened the clouds broke and a beam of light shone directly onto John Paul II. Everyone I have ever met who attended mentions this unusual occurance. I know it sounds corny. Peggy admitted it sounded corny. For crying out loud, Eddie Murphy mentioned it in one of his standups. But I promise you this: It did happen, and there is no doubt in my mind that God was behind it.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

No doubt the Good Lord had a hand in bring John Paul to the papacy. Recall the sudden, unexpected deaths of his predecessors.

[presidio9]

No doubt the Good Lord had a hand in bring John Paul to the papacy. Recall the sudden, unexpected deaths of his predecessors.

I'm not comfortable with the image of God as "Divine Hitman," but I do think that he influenced the vote in favor of Karol Józef Wojtyla .

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He simply called the others home for other duties.

[NYer]

Even so, in an age supposedly marked by cynicism and materialism, the appeal of that message -- that human beings have a dignity inextricably linked to their Creator -- can still be astounding.

JOHN PAUL II, WE LOVE YOU!

[Catholicguy]

The Ronaldus Magnus stuff turns my stomach.

Why drag him into this thread? He was a Scoop Jackson Democrat in Pro-abortion Republican pants. Daily he violated his oath of office to protect and defend the constitution and he publicly lived in adultry in the white house as a divorced and remarried man.

The size of govt more'n doubled under his execrable presidency (I don't mean that in a bad way) and he inured "conservatives" into thinking "big gov't" conservatism wasn't both oxymoronic and the road to political perdition.

Other than that, he gave smashing speeches.

[Catholicguy]

Very kind and generous. God Bless

[Salvation]

Papal bump!