A Wonderful Pope

You know a pope is great and beloved when they're quoting scripture and explaining theology on Larry King Live. The passing of a pope as historic and loved as John Paul II has cast a Christian perspective on the world, and on the discussions of the worldly and the secular.

The Washington Post's lengthy obituary duly noted the spiritual significance of John Paul II:

His message was that faith must be grounded in truth and that the key to freedom is love and service to God. His themes were peace, justice and the sanctity of life. He warned that a spreading "cult of death," in forms ranging from genocide and ethnic cleansing to legalized abortion, euthanasia and the frenzied pursuit of material goods, were leading to a "blunting of the moral sensitivity of people's consciences."

For conservative non-Catholics, the pope's greatest legacy was his role in fanning the flames of freedom, with Ronald Reagan at his side. These two grand and historic men, so different in many ways but chained together by a love of freedom founded on Christian values, brought down an evil empire. It was a magnificent feat, and one probably unprecedented in human history. Unfortuantely, the lengthy WaPo story dispenses of that amazing story with this:

Many people regarded his support for the Solidarity trade union movement in Poland in the 1980s as a crucial factor in that country's peaceful transition to democracy and the subsequent collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and its former satellites.

It's too bad that the story included a lengthy discussion of the churche's recent sensational priest sex scandals, events that will have little long-term signicance, and passed over the Vatican's role in ending the Cold War.

I had to stop and re-read the sentence when WaPo referred to the Catholic Church as "the oldest international organization in the world." An interesting way to put it. But if we put on a secular lens and view the Catholic Church that way, then popes like John Paul II should not be rarities. Let's hope the next pope is cut from the same cloth as Karol Wojtyla, and not that of Kofi Annan, who leads a much less effective international organization.

Update: Michelle Malkin has a growing list of MSM mistreatment of the Pope, including an amazing screen-grab by Hindrocket at Powerline.