Sunday, April 10, 2005

John Paul . . . Misunderstood?

John Paul, the Great: The Misunderstood Pope

Media pundits who've been harping all week on the Pope’s ‘strict adherence to traditional Catholic morality and doctrine’ have it wrong. The fact is, John Paul II forged one of the boldest reconfigurations of Catholic theology in centuries.

Pope John Paul II


"...what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet."
(Matthew 11: 8-9)

As I write, rivers of people from all over the world continue to stream—fly, drive, train, bus, bike, and hikeinto Rome to pay their respects to Pope John Paul II. One stunned CNN reporter described it as the "largest gathering of people in human history."

read the rest at Godspy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Since JustAsIAm "shamelessly" took this article for his blog, I'm going to "shamelessly" use his blog to advertise a key element of this article's subject: JPII's "theology of the body."

Go to this for a taste of some of what it entails (again, just an inkling):

Some articles by Christopher West on the Theology of the Body

This is the actual book containing the Pope's audiences on the Theology of the Body

Another article

Ultimately, the reason why the Pope's pontificate was so successful (both in and outside the Church) was because of his fulfillment of the Christian calling. The media won't ever understand that, nor will it ever try.

This work, the "theology of the body" has really helped my own understanding in ways that may not have been possible otherwise.

I'd be interested to hear what the other readers have to say about it, or at least Christopher West's explanations!



pjh