Blessed Pope

Blessed Pope

Pope John Paul L L - the Fighter for Peace

Loved by millions, admired by others, strange to some, and even hated by many, he was, without a doubt a Gift from God for the generation that had the privilege of knowing him.

To me, personally, is the man I have admired most in my life.-

KAROL JOSEPH WOJTYLA was born in Wadowice, a small city of Poland, on May 18th., 1920. His biography is long, and many know it.- He lost his parents at a very young age, and managed to survive and become a priest in a communist ruled country., against all odds and putting his life at risk many times.-

Before he realized the call of God, he was studying to be an actor.- But once he decided to become a priest, nothing was able to stand in his way.

He was elected POPE on Oct. 16th, 1978, when he was only 58 years old, and was pope for 27 years. One of longest in the history of the Church.-

This man, that more than a man was the representative of GOD on earth, had a humility and charisma that made it very difficult NOT to love him. His face and smile had a sweetness and humanity that always made me belief that if we could see GOD, he would have that same face and the same smile.

He was extremely conservative, and there were issues that I could not accept in my Catholic Religion;,- like the ordinance that priests could not marry, not accepting birth control, not accepting divorce, the issues of women’s important roles in Church, and many others. But these were part of his rulings that we had to accept.

On the other hand, his influence and improvement of the Catholic Faith due to his many accomplishments, overruled all and any of his strict regulations that I, as well as many other people, did not agree with.

His love for humanity, specially the poor, the children and young people were the most important part of his endeavor in this world. He never waited for people to visit him, he always WENT TO HIS PEOPLE. He was the only Pope in the 2,000 years history of the church that traveled more than any other.

 He made more than 104 visits to other parts of the world, traveled to more than 100 countries and cities, including communist Cuba, --and Jerusalem, were he apologized to the Jewish people for the offenses made by Christians, this way closing more than 1,000 years of conflicts.-

He also went to Jewish temples, and joined them in their own prayers, to show the world that we are all the same under the eyes of God.- Something that no other Pope had never done.

His several visits to South Africa, many times carried huge confrontations with the different governments, since he could not accept the political irregularities that created the misery and hunger of the people.- His main goal was to help humanity.

Even when he was partially crippled, due to the Parkinson Disease that ailed him, he visited Spain, were people glorified him.- He could hardly walk, and needed help to sit or stand up.- By this time, his once handsome and straight figure, was completely distorted by the disease, his back was curved and his once vivid and beautiful eyes, were partially closed. But nothing could stop this strong willed man that fought up to his very last moment in this world.

He was not only a humanitarian and a philosopher, but also a magnificent writer.- Among some of his books are: “ Crossing The Threshold of Hope”, - “Gift and Mystery”,- “Roman Triptych” - “Arise, Let Us Be Going”,- “Memory and Identity”,- and many more that were never published. There are also many essays and documents that remain at his Library in The Vatican.-

What happened in Eastern Europe that culminated in the overthrow of communism would have never been accomplished without his efforts and personal involvement. Together with Lech Waleska, they created the “Solidarity Movement”, that eliminated communism without a single drop of blood, or a civil war., -that could have cost thousands of lives.-- The soviet press defined him once as a “Subversive Pope”.- , but instead, he was named ‘THE MAN OF THE CENTURY.-

Karol Joseph Wojtyla died on April 2nd., 2005, when he was 85 years old.- Was Pope for 27 years, one of the longest in the history of the Church,.

More than 3 million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to this unique man. Some slept in parks, and many streets of Rome, and waited more than 24 hours in long endless lines, just to be able to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, and be able to see him for the last time.

History will always judge him as the most important Pope of our times. From a religious, moral and social perspective, no one has influenced the world as he did.

He faced many contradictions in his life and faith, after all he was only a human being -- elected by GOD to be his representative in this World, and to guide us.-

Sometimes he was a tragic figure indeed, but if his contradictions were due to something we failed to gasp, then the inability to understand HIM, has been OUR OWN TRAGEDY.-

He is scheduled to be canonized sometime next year.- Who, better than him, that was indeed a “SAINT”.-

THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER KAROL J. WOJTYLA.- He was blessed by GOD, and will forever remain in our hearts and souls.

Eva de la Torrriente Diaz

Nov. 1, 2008

PS: This article is not intended for Catholics only.- All religions are to be respected since they all have the same purpose - “THE LOVE OF GOD”.-

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Is it true that Jewish people will only eat pigs if it has been blessed by the pope?

I was reading 17 magazine last week (I'm a guy - donut judge homophones) and it had a section on different religions. It said something about how food can be kroger or something if blessed by one of their popes. I was left confused by this so i thought you guys could help me.

Don't give me silly answers since I'm interested in their culture since people call me ignorant at school sometimes.
so if i get this right, the jewish pope is a rabbi and its kosher not kroger.
Is the pope kosher though?

First you have it all wrong. There is no Jewish Pope. Only the Catholics have Popes. The highest ranking Jewish official is a Rabbi which translates to Teacher. No Rabbi is more important than any other Rabbi. Pork is not Kosher. It is not allowed no matter who says so. The Pope can eat whatever he wants. Also, by the way, Muslims do not eat pork for the same reason Jews do not. In olden times pigs were considered unclean. People got sick by eating pork. No one knew that pork has to be cooked well done to kill any tape worms, etc.

One other thing, 17 is not a good source of information.

Bill

Blessed Pope John Paul II's Remains Moved to Chapel of St. Sebastian