"Me" wrote in message
...
The Catholic Church, along with every organized religion, have situations
in their history that wish they could forget. There have been evil people
who have tainted the reputations of every organized religion, yet the
major religions do provide excellent guidelines for personal and social
happiness.

Even lately, the Vatican has danced when certain aspects of recent history
have been questioned.


Pope John Paul II was not perfect, but his legacy as a decent strong
leader who made a positive impact on Catholics and Non-Catholics will be
remembered.

Actually, I think he was cool. This is not about him personally. I'm
especially amazed at much of what he did while still in Poland, and I wish
Martin Luther King had been around to see it. The two of them would've seen
eye to eye, as far as resisting evil and embarrassing those who believe
they're powerful.

However, you might want to think about this: Popes believe (loosely,
perhaps) that they have a special relationship or connection to god. So do
the emperor of Japan and the Dalai Lama. How do you feel about this?
Now....how do you feel about "civilians" who think god talks to them? What
if your wife says the same thing? How about an odd looking homeless person
ranting on a street corner? If you believe every religious person has the
same ability to communicate with god, then logically, you cannot point to
the pope as someone special. He's no different than the guy with the biggest
funny hat at an Elks club. He just got lucky.