Tuesday, April 05, 2005
500,000
Yesterday, the Pope's body was moved to Saint Peter's Basilica, where he will lie in state until Friday morning. This is the public's opportunity to view his body and to say one last good-bye. It's estimated that already 500,000 people have filed respectfully past the Pope. The total number by Friday will likely be in the millions.
There are whispers afoot that Pope John Paul II will be the third Pope in history to bear the official title "the Great." He was a tireless advocate for the Catholic Church, and was absolutely unbending when it came to his moral beliefs throughout his lifetime. He did not give in to pressures from various factions of the Church who demanded sweeping change--demands that came mainly from America, that priests be allowed to marry, that women be allowed to become priests, and that the Church stay out of the reproductive systems of those so-called Catholics hungry for the right to kill their unborn children. He faced all of that down with courage and with fortitude. He stood firmly behind the gospel of life, and stared down the growing culture of death with the strength of his convictions. Whether you loved him or hated him, you have to grant that he was a man who did not waver. And if the 500,000 people who've already paid their final respects are anything to judge by, John Paul II's unwavering flame was admired by more than a few.
There are whispers afoot that Pope John Paul II will be the third Pope in history to bear the official title "the Great." He was a tireless advocate for the Catholic Church, and was absolutely unbending when it came to his moral beliefs throughout his lifetime. He did not give in to pressures from various factions of the Church who demanded sweeping change--demands that came mainly from America, that priests be allowed to marry, that women be allowed to become priests, and that the Church stay out of the reproductive systems of those so-called Catholics hungry for the right to kill their unborn children. He faced all of that down with courage and with fortitude. He stood firmly behind the gospel of life, and stared down the growing culture of death with the strength of his convictions. Whether you loved him or hated him, you have to grant that he was a man who did not waver. And if the 500,000 people who've already paid their final respects are anything to judge by, John Paul II's unwavering flame was admired by more than a few.
