Pope left a legacy for successor
Brendan Gleason / Columnist
The life of Pope John Paul II is without a doubt one of the
most extraordinary lives in modern times and his funeral
lived up to his legacy. World leaders, Catholics and millions
of admirers from around the world came to pay their respects.
To many, the papacy has always played an influence part of
their lives, but the events following the pope's death
displayed the influence that this pope had on the rest of the
world. The legacy of Pope John Paul II will forever be the
measuring stick for future popes of the Catholic Church well
past our lifetimes, and will be compared to the next pope on
what will seem like a day to day basis.
While the role of the pope is to head the Catholic Church,
he was a force to be heard on the international stage, often
making statements on world actions and traveling to leaders
to persuade a different course of action. Pope John Paul II
was a strict conservative, and during his long papacy, he
stacked the College of Cardinals with other ultra
conservatives that share the same view of the world. In a
world that is developing faster than at any other point in
time, the concern for the College of Cardinals in picking the
next pope has to be whether to move forward with the times,
choosing a more progressive pope, or to stick to traditional
Catholic values.
I certainly do not expect the Catholic Church or the next
pope to all of a sudden come out pro-choice. I think it would
be a terrible thing for the church and a horrible thing for
society. This is how I am both Catholic and pro-choice. I do
not approve of abortion at all, but that is my personal value
of life. My pro-choice stance deals directly with my belief
that government does not have the right to make that choice
for us. The Catholic Church will always maintain certain
values and beliefs for as long as it stands, but in the
changing world, both economically and religiously, the role
that it will play in world politics is uncertain.
Since the pope's death last week, rumors of who the next
pope will be have been dominating news talk shows. If the
traditional Italian pope returns to the papacy, we might see
the Catholic Church almost revert back before the papacy of
John Paul II, who was the first non-Italian pope in 495
years. What is more likely, and probably the most effective
choice for the church would be a non-Italian pope, probably
from the Latin American community, which makes up the largest
block of Catholics.
We have seen how one man can influence the world, but the
impacts of the Catholic Church and religion go way beyond
that. We witnessed how values dominated the 2004 presidential
election, people who were dissatisfied with the handling of
Iraq, terrorism and the economy still voted for Bush. It has
been the bedrock for the conservative Republican base since
Ronald Reagan. Republicans have taken strong issues with
abortion, gay marriage, and most recently Terri Shaivo as
religious issues; issues that Democrats are viewed as out of
the mainstream and extremist. Most of these values are
reinforced by the church and more importantly by the pope as
the figure head of the church. The next pope might not
influence United States policy, but with 20 percent of the
population made up of Catholics, it could certainly persuade
enough people to change their perception of life.
Contact Brendan Gleason at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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