POPE JOHN Paul, in the 27th year of his reign, the third-longest in the history of the papacy, has surrendered to the ravages of illness and died at the Vatican on yesterday.
Elected in 1978 as the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, John Paul's passing is being mourned by Christians of all denominations. With his death, one of the most eventful pontificates in history has ended and he leaves behind a legacy of moral leadership, social sensitivity and dogged adherence to time-honoured principles which it will not be easy to replicate.
In his commitment to take the Christian message to his flock of more than one billion Roman Catholics, the Pope during his lifetime visited 129 countries including Jamaica. His personal charm, coupled with an ability to communicate in many languages, won him grudging respect wherever he travelled. A great ecumenist, this was demonstrated most dramatically when he visited Israel and apologised for past discrimination of Jews and prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
Pope Paul was an enigmatic mixture of the man of action, skilled in the art of public relations, and the man of prayer who was close to being a mystic. Despite a gruelling schedule as chief administrator of the Roman Catholic Church, he reportedly consistently spent more than five hours a day in prayer. Among his more noteworthy acts was to publicly forgive the Turkish gunman,Mehmmet Ali Agea, who attempted to assassinate him in St. Peter's Square a few years after he assumed office.
A theological conservative, Pope Paul refused to change the traditional stance of the church banning female priests, abortion, and gay marriages. The 120 cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to vote for the new Pope were nearly all appointed by John Paul which signals that a new Pontiff will follow in his predecessor's conservative theological footsteps. With Europe tending more towards a materialistic humanism which no longer takes the centrality of religion for granted, 65 per cent of the world's Catholics now live in Africa and Latin America. This is reflected by the fact that among the front-runners to succeed the Pope is Cardinal Francis Azrainze, a Nigerian, whose election would be welcomed in Jamaica.
Pope John Paul was a man of towering intellect and abiding faith who honourably served a papacy stretching back 2000 years. The Roman Catholic Church and, indeed, the world has been enriched by his devotion to the teachings of Christ.
