PJP II
It's been a while since I filled a page with useless chatter and inflicted it upon you all, so without further delay:
The Pope
While he continued to allow some Catholic dogma to continue, both to the detriment of humanity and his religion, Pope John Paull II probably did more for his fellow man then any other person of this century. While his direct involvement was always minimal, he freed the homeland and in turn the rest of Europe, from the tight grip of Communism.
"When individuals and communities do not see a rigorous respect for the moral, cultural and spiritual requirements, based on the dignity of the person and on the proper identity of each community, beginning with the family and religious societies, then all the rest -- availability of goods, abundance of technical resources applied to daily life, a certain level of material well-being -- will prove unsatisfying and in the end contemptible," he wrote.
This pope, more then any other, brought words of peace to every corner of the world. He tried to make amends to the Jewish nation at large for centuries of Christian violence against Jewish people. Pope John Paul's attempts to make amends changes many, many things between Christians and Jews, opening the door for more discussion and more peace.
His funeral on Friday will be attended by the most important people from around the world. No other funeral in our time will be as important. No leader, no soldier, no doctor or scholar, will have such attendance as Pope John Paul II will this friday.
While I am not a Roman Catholic, I certainly will be taking a moment to pay my respects to the man.