Life After John Paul

Everywhere we turn, it's the Pope.

John Paul II meant so much to so many of us: inherently genuine, caring, and virtuous. We can scarcely remember when he wasn't Pope.

But through our sadness and grief at the loss of a great and inspiring human being, let's look closer at the legacy of the man often described as "The perfect grandfather."

John Paul II was extremely conservative and doctrinaire:

1. He opposed the idea of ordination of women in a priesthood sorely pressed for new recruits.
2. He opposed the increased visibility of women within the traditional hierarchy of power both in the Vatican and throughout the global Holy See.
3. He opposed birth control of any type in a world where overpopulation is at the heart of our humanitarian problems: famine, disease, poverty, and genocide.
4. He failed to grasp the enormity of the priest sex scandals in the U.S. and appointed the disgraced Bernard Law to a prestigious Vatican position.
5. He asserted the power of the papacy over local needs by centralizing and intensifying the rule of Rome.

John Paul II was a great man in his love for people, his rejection of tyranny by both Nazi Germany and Communist Poland, and his reaching out to Judaism and other faiths in an innovative cross-cultural détente.

But while we celebrate his life and accomplishments, let's move forward towards a more progressive Church that allows its members to adapt doctrine to the realities of their lives and let personal dialogs concerning ethics and appropriate behavior replace blind obedience.