The role of the pope today
Luke Wake / Columnist
"John Paul II, we love you." This is what I
remember cheering with thousands of onlookers from around the
world when I had the joy of seeing the Holy Father, during
2002 World Youth Day in Toronto. I was one of a million youth
gathered to see him and there was a great outpouring of
genuine love for mankind both from him and from the gathered
Catholics of the world on that day. That same genuine love
for mankind, which seemed to be the theme of John Paul's
papacy, was alive even till his death and in his death the
world mourned a great loss. John Paul II was a remarkable
leader not only for the church but also for the world, and in
his death, we saw a somber, but joyful, outpouring of love
for him, a man had done so much for the world.
John Paul II played a great role in the fall of communism,
the encouragement of peace and in showing solidarity for the
downtrodden of the world. Even in American politics, John
Paul has played a great role, as both a spiritual leader for
thousands of American Catholics and as world leader who has
been eager to meet with our presidents and encourage our
leaders to be morally responsible. This relationship between
the Vatican and the United States was new and ground
breaking, because until Regan appointed an ambassador the
United States had no diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
It then is quite natural for Americans, non-Catholics as
well, to question, what will John Paul's successor mean
to us?
As a Catholic I can say that the pope is, first and
foremost, the head of a living and breathing body, a
universal church with the moral authority of an apostolic
succession handed down by Christ to Peter, the first pope.
His role is spiritual, he is guided by the Holy Spirit and
his role is to lead the church through the trials of time and
the issues it presents; the pope's job is to interpret
and apply scripture to the issues the world is faced with
today. In this respect he may have effects upon the world,
but he is not meant to be, nor is he, a political figure in
the sense that non-Catholic Americans often presume him to
be.
The question should not be: what will the next pope mean to
America, but rather to the world. I am not one of those
conservatives who will tell you, America is the center of the
universe; we must recognize that our problems veil in
comparison to those of the third world. The pope may likely
come from Africa or Latin America, which would be wonderful
because it could provide them encouragement and perhaps help
focus the world's attention to the downtrodden. Surely
the next pope, who ever he will be, shall be faced with many
problems in the third world and he will stand as a great
symbol of solidarity to all the peoples of the world.
For the west, and America in particular, the church must
battle our materialistic and secularist culture. Our society
is burdened with many problems as well, but namely moral
decay and this will have to be addressed by the next pope.
But if you ask what issue is of utmost concern in the west,
the answer is clear. Our greatest problem is the legalization
of abortion and a lack of respect for human life. As I have
said before, in quoting John Paul II, "abortion is the
greatest ongoing human rights crisis in the world." This
was a point of contention between Bill Clinton and the Holy
Father and you should expect the Vatican and American
Catholics, to continue applying pressures on the civil
authorities to end the practice. I pray the next pope will
inspire American Catholics to learn, understand and adhere to
church teachings and to finally unite in solidarity for life.
May the next pope be as instrumental in promoting love and
good works, throughout the world, as our beloved John Paul
II. He shall guide us through these troubling times and
hopefully be an inspiration for many souls.
Contact Luke Wake at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247. | |
