APPRECIATING JOHN PAUL “THE GREAT”

A Vocation Beyond Doctrine and Politics

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.- Used with permission.

Karol Wojtyla (1920-2005) served as Pope John Paul II (1978-2007) in a lengthy, whirlwind, and remarkable papacy. April 2, 2010 marked the fifth anniversary of his death. What do you recall about this remarkable pontiff?

John Paul II was born to lead and to inspire, to bridge the human and the divine. More than one observer characterized him as “man of the century” during his lifetime. And even before his passing to eternity some commentators were assigning to him the encomium “John Paul the Great.”

But John Paul II also drew a considerable share of criticism
and a wide variance of opinion. Then what can we say with certainty, in the absolute, about the 264th successor of St. Peter. Looking beyond doctrine and politics we see a truly extraordinary person.

Above all, he mattered in his period of history. He changed the face of Europe, stopped several wars and protested others, traveled the equivalent of three-and-a-half times to the moon. He has been seen in person by more people than anyone else in history. John Paul II most certainly must be numbered among the titans of his times. This pope was a magnet for humanity.

As a “sign of contradiction” and one who mattered in human and church arenas, he also divided. The wide range of varying opinions might be the most convincing sign of his impact. John Paul II made over 100 trips outside Italy, canonized about 500 saints, beatified about 1400, authored more than a dozen landmark encyclicals and numerous other instructions. The list of his activities seems endless. He exhibited boundless energy for work and for engaging people. All of this made him famous, but it also made him controversial. His was a bruising, polarizing pontificate.

In the final analysis, we can confidently say that John Paul, deeper than his politics and his Polish Catholic cultural formation, was an extraordinary person of sterling character, a genuine mensch. He was a strong, intelligent, caring human being. His integrity and dedication to duty present a standard by which other leaders can be measured.

Above all, John Paul was a selfless human being in a me-first world. Cardinal Roberto Tucci, who planned the pope’s trips and briefed him hundreds of times on trips long and short, observed that never did the pope ask what conveniences or creature comforts to expect. That indifference to himself was noticeable every time he entered the public stage. The very motto of this dedicated apostle of Mary indicated this: “Totus tuus” (I am all yours).

This is the key to his personal magnetism that drew enormous crowds everywhere, even in places where his political or doctrinal stands were unpopular. Deeper than either secular or religious concerns was his personal integrity -- goodness and holiness, the qualities we prize most highly in others. A person may be regarded as liberal or conservative, avant-garde or traditional, but let that person be decent, and that suffices.

John Paul II’s authentic humanity was the source of his appeal. The most important lesson he offered is the coherence of his own life. When he urged Christians, in the words of Jesus, “duc in altum” (set off into the deep), that resonated even with those who sought different shores.

John Paul’s admirers and critics alike can say of him what Shakespeare’s Hamlet said of his father: “He was a man. Take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.”

From Brother John: The ... article was published to mark the fifth anniversary of his death in THE INSIDE PASSAGE, biweekly newspaper of the Diocese of Juneau, Alaska, April 9, 2010, page 7.