Saturday, April 02, 2005

The Death of John Paul II

April 2, 2005. The Pope went to the Lord this afternoon, a rainy, wet day in Philadelphia. I came across the following article that says so much about the Man. Written by David Brooks, a New York Times journalist and a non- Catholic, it is quite a tribute to JP II. Brooks' words can help us think about who this Pope was, and what he did for the world.

Peace,

Rick
****************************************************
New York Times. Oct 11, 2003
Bigger Than the Nobel
By DAVID BROOKS

I can't imagine he cares, but Pope John Paul II, who has had a more profound influence on more people than any other living human being, is never going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. For years, prize watchers have felt that the Norwegian committee would have no choice but to give him the award, even if he does have unfashionable views on abortion. And this, oddsmakers predicted, was his year. His health is fragile, and his fervent opposition to the war in Iraq would have pleased the impeccably liberal committee.

But I like to think the members of the committee understood the central truth, that they could not give the prize to John Paul. He is too big and complex for their award. The project he is engaged in — still engaged in — defies their categories.

Instructed by faith, trained by the hard history of Central Europe, the young Karol Wojtyla came to believe that "the evil of our times consists in the first place in a kind of degradation, indeed in a pulverization, of the fundamental uniqueness in each person." The Nazis tried to reduce individuals to their racial makeup, the Marxists to their class status.

John Paul II dedicated his life to the defense of the whole and the indivisible dignity of each person. At the core of each individual, he believes, is the moral need to seek truth.

The "fundamental error of socialism," he writes, "is anthropological." It tries to pare down human beings into something narrower and more degraded than they really are. It tries to crush, among other things, their search for God.

So when John Paul II went to Poland and Cuba early in his papacy, he told the crowds, "You are not who they say you are."

The result was a cultural revolution. One young Polish student, quoted in George Weigel's biography, "Witness to Hope," heard the teaching and realized, "Now what I wanted to do was to live without being a liar."

The pope has tried to defend the dignity of personhood in all spheres, and this has meant that he does not conform to ordinary political categories. While respecting private property, he has been suspicious of the utilitarian calculus of capitalism, and embraced welfare state policies that put him far to the left.
Defending the dignity of life from the moment of conception to the moment of death, he has fought abortion, euthanasia and the scientific refashioning of human nature, putting himself on the side of conservatives.

His main achievement has been to remind us — Catholics and even us non-Catholics — that you can't pare people down. We do this all the time without realizing it. When we write for newspapers, or talk in public, we generally speak as if democracy and freedom are ends in themselves. We give our heroes prizes for curing diseases and clearing land mines.

Those things, grand as they are, are insufficient, the pope is always insisting. Democracy is just a system. Freedom is just an opportunity to do good or bad. The essence of life is not long life, but true life.

The pope is always taking us out of our secular comfort zone and dragging us toward ultimate issues. You can't talk about politics, economics, science, philosophy or war, he argues, while conveniently averting your eyes from God and ultimate truth.

In its statement lauding this year's winner, Shirin Ebadi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee celebrates her commitment to dialogue and democracy. But where the authors of that statement stop thinking is where the pope picks up.

Dialogues toward what truth? Democracy for what? He understands we will never persuade a radical Islamist to give up his absolute grip on what he sees as God's truth if all we are offering is a tepid dialogue on the need to get along. We need to show him truth with tolerance. This is the challenge of the increasingly religious 21st century, and the pope, a philosopher more than an activist, is far out ahead.

Shirin Ebadi is obviously a courageous person, doing vitally important work. Nothing takes away from her heroism. But when history looks back on our era, Pope John Paul II will be recognized as the giant of the age, as the one individual who did the most to place democracy and freedom at the service of the highest human goals.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey,

I think you should have spend some couple of hours to project a well organized spiffy blog

Keep us updated with other posts. My brother and I read this entire spiffy blog regularly... It's a pleasure.

Regards,
spiffy blog

Sat Feb 04, 10:43:00 PM 2006  
Blogger elkamaal said...


شركة مكافحة الصراصير براس الخيمة
شركة مكافحة الفئران براس الخيمة
شركة مكافحة الرمة براس الخيمة
شركة مكافحة البق براس الخيممة
شركة تنظيف مسابح بعجمان
شركة تنظيف سجاد بالبخار بعجمان
تنظيف موكيت بالبخار بعجمان
شركة تنظيف كنب بالبخار فى عجمان
شركة تنظيف ستائر بالبخار بعجمان
شركة تنظيف بالبخار بعجمان
تنظيف بالبخار فى بعجمان
شركة نظافة فى عجمان
شركة تنظيف بعجمان
شركات تنظيف فلل بعجمان

Wed Jul 18, 04:11:00 PM 2018  
Blogger elkamaal said...


شركة مكافحة حشرات بمكة
شركات مكافحة الحشرات بمكة
شركة مكافحة العتة بمكة
شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بمكة
شركة رش البطحة بمكة
شركة مكافحة الفئران بمكة
شركة مكافحة القوارض بمكة
شركة مكافحة البق بمكة
شركة مكافحة الارضة بمكة
شركة رش حشرات بمكة
شركة رش مبيدات بمكة
شركة جلى بلاط رخام بمكة
شركة جلى رخام بمكة
شركة جلى بلاط بمكة
فك وتركيب أثاث إيكيا بمكة
شركة نقل عفش بمكة
شركة نقل اثاث بمكة


شركة شحن برى لمصر
شركة شحن من الرياض الى مصر
شركة شحن فى السعوديه لمصر

Wed Jul 18, 04:12:00 PM 2018  
Blogger elkamaal said...


شركة تسليك مجارى بالدمام
شركات تنظيف بالدمام
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بجازان
شركة تراب لمكافحة الحشرات بالرياض
شركة واثق لمكافحة الحشرات بالاحساء
كشف تسربات المياه بجازن
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بجازن
كشف تسربات المياه بجازن بدون تكسير
شركة تسليك مجارى بالاحساء
شركة تنظيف منازل بجازان
شركة تنظيف فلل بجازان
شركة تنظيف شقق بجازان
شركة تنظيف بجازان
شركة تنظيف موكيت بجازان
شركة تنظيف مجالس بجازان
شركة تنظيف كنب بجازان

Wed Jul 18, 04:17:00 PM 2018  
Blogger elkamaal said...


شركة تنظيف خزانات بالمدينة المنورة
شركة غسيل خزانات بالمدينة المنورة
شركة عزل خزانات بالمدينة المنورة
شركة تنظيف فلل بالمدينة المنورة
شركة تنظيف شقق بالمدينة المنورة
شركة تنظيف منازل بالمدينة المنورة
شركة نقل عفش خارج المدينة المنورة
شركة نقل عفش خارج المدينة المنورة
شركة نقل عفش من المدينة المنورة إلي مكة
شركة نقل عفش من المدينة المنورة إلي جدة
شركة نقل عفش من المدينة المنورة إلي الدمام
شركة نقل عفش من المدينة المنورة إلي ينبع
شركة نقل عفش من المدينة المنورة إلي أبها
نقل أثاث من المدينة المنورة إلي القطيف

Wed Jul 18, 04:21:00 PM 2018  
Blogger elkamaal said...


شركة تنظيف موكيت بالبخار بدبى
شركة تنظيف كنب بالبخار فى دبى
تنظيف كنب بالبخار بدبى
افضل شركة تنظيف كنب بالبخار بدبى
تنظيف كنب بدبى
شركة تنظيف سجاد بالبخار فى دبى
تنظيف سجاد بالبخار بدبى
افضل شركة تنظيف سجاد بالبخار بدبى
تنظيف سجاد بدبى
تنظيف السجاد بالبخار فى فى دبى
شركة تنظيف الكنب بالبخار فى دبى
شركة تنظيف ستائر بالبخار بدبى
شركة تنظيف بالبخار بدبى
تنظيف بالبخار فى دبى
شركة تنظيف فلل بدبى
تنظيف فلل فى دبى
شركة تنظيف بدبى

Wed Jul 18, 04:27:00 PM 2018  
Anonymous تسجيل العلامة التجارية said...



نقوم نيابة عن الشركات والمؤسسات والافراد بتسجيل علاماتهم التجارية المميزة لدى وزارة التجارة في السعودية وأكثر من 80 دوله حول العالم بواسطة شركائنا،


محامي


تسجيل العلامة التجارية

Sun Dec 01, 08:40:00 PM 2019  
Anonymous مكتب محاماة بجدة said...

افضل مكتب محاماة بجدة والمنطقة

Sat Mar 28, 09:36:00 AM 2020  
Blogger independent said...

Thank you for the great article. Follow my readers. ไฟป่า click

Mon Apr 06, 05:42:00 AM 2020  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home