Pope John Paul II's death on Saturday has sparked an unprecedented focus on his teachings and those of the Catholic Church. In his life and in his death, the humble priest from Poland exemplified the precepts of a 2,000-year-old institution that has shaped much of the world for centuries. He stood for life against death. He championed the vulnerable over the powerful. And he resisted the siren call to abandon fidelity to tradition and Church doctrine -- which earned him numerous critics among the cultural elite, especially for his stance on human sexuality and the role of women in modern life.
Since the pope's death, liberal commentators on television and radio have tried to walk the fine line between criticizing the pope's theology and appearing to criticize the man, as if with this pope there could be any distinction between the two. Some dissident Catholics, for example, have suggested that whoever is chosen when the Conclave of Cardinals meet in Rome on April 18, he must heal the wounds they claim were created by this pope. Father Andrew Greeley, an influential writer and sociologist, wrote in the New York Daily News this week on the legacy of Pope John Paul II: "The Catholic Church, so attractive during the time of Pope John XXIII [1958-63], lost much of its respect and esteem -- especially because it was perceived, perhaps unfairly, to be hostile to both women and homosexuals." But the growth among new Catholics would appear to contradict the dissidents' carping.