Pope John Paul II's Legacy: Contradiction & Contemplation

Kieron Lang, CTV.ca News

ope John Paul II's legacy is complex, contradictory and global in its reach.

For a quarter of a century, he served as spiritual leader to the world's Roman Catholics – according to Vatican statistics, representing about 17 per cent of the world's population.

"This is a pope who knows the world, really knows the Catholic communities everywhere in the world, virtually," Georgetown University theology professor Dr. Chester Gillis told CTV.

John Paul II logged the miles and earned his reputation as a Pope who knew the world. He visited more than 120 countries during his reign. From his base at the Vatican, he greeted millions of visitors from around the world.

More than just knowing the world, he helped change it -- particularly the post-war, communist world in which he came of age.

In 1979, John Paul II made a whirlwind tour of his native Poland, preaching 32 sermons in nine days -- touching on the themes of human dignity, the right to religious freedom and revolution of the spirit.

That tour -- described as a mass political catharsis for Poles -- is credited with helping inspire the Solidarity movement. Poland's worker uprising was the first in a series of events across eastern Europe, culminating in the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

And John Paul II never lost his conviction. In a 1998 speech to 100,000 Cubans, John Paul exemplified his outspoken stand against communism. He blamed Fidel Castro's regime for "discouraging the individual," denying freedom of conscience and curbing fundamental freedoms.

He spoke his mind freely, and at the same time spoke out against what he saw as the excesses of capitalism in America.

"(In) America, a system known as "neoliberalism" prevails; based on a purely economic conception of the human person, this system considers profit and the law of the market as its only parameters, to the detriment of the dignity of and the respect due to individuals and peoples," John Paul II wrote in his 1999 apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America.

"Indeed, the poor are becoming ever more numerous, victims of specific policies and structures which are often unjust."

Catholics for a Free Choice President Frances Kissling said the "human-focus" of John Paul II's politics stand out. "In terms of external relations -- the church and the world -- he will be remembered very positively as a force for human rights and freedom," Kissling said.

In that regard, John Paul II led the Catholic Church to its modern height of political power, offering his opinion on world issues ranging from terrorism to the war in Iraq. "He was not afraid to use that power and therefore the Roman Catholic Church is seen as a strong moral voice around the world," Gillis said.

In 1986 he became the first Pope to visit a Jewish synagogue, and in 2001 made history by entering a mosque.

As active as he was in promoting change outside the church, John Paul II was just as tireless in efforts to prevent it from happening on the inside.

According to Kissling, John Paul II's refusal to bend the church's myriad rules left many people yearning for something more.

"Indeed, what people are starving for in a post-communist world and, I think, in the 21st century, is a more open way of looking at human experience. People are looking for guidelines, not rules, and he was a pope of rules," Kissling said.

That meant John Paul II refused to budge on the basics -- saying 'no' to priests being married; women being ordained as priests; church-sanctioned divorce and homosexual unions.

And, of course, he offered a vehement 'no' to calls for a relaxed stance on birth control. For Kissling, the Pope's stance on birth control was a major disappointment.

"Certainly his inability, in the face of the world-wide epidemic of AIDS, to relax even the teeniest bit the church's opposition to condoms is a great tragedy," Kissling said.

So many Catholics, though charmed by his personality, chose to ignore the Pope's basic teachings. Even in a thoroughly Catholic country like Italy, he was defied on the issue of birth control – a trend that in the past 30 years has halved the country's live birth rate.

Still, John Paul II capitalized on his wide appeal, helping to give the church a recognizable, well-liked face. He even broadened its scope through the creation of events like the bi-annual World Youth Days.

And he made some unprecedented statements on behalf of the church. Among them a sweeping apology seeking forgiveness for the historical sins of the Catholic church including mistreatment of women, "contempt for cultures and religious traditions" and hatred towards society's weakest members.

Father Tom Rosica, who helped bring World Youth Day 2002 to Canada, found he was able to embrace all the contradictions of this 21st century Pope.

"There are a lot of things he did which don't appeal to my taste or the taste of other Catholics, but many things which he believed and stood for are the core and the kernel of my faith," Rosica said. "And that is what is so important."

In the final analysis, even his harshest critics concede that Pope John Paul II helped modernize, maybe even humanize, the Vatican -- a job he achieved not only as the Bishop of Rome, but also as a man of the people.