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Sundreme · 04-06-2005, 04:03 AM

Even though I'm Jewish, I could still appreciate the goodness and decency that Pope John Paul II personfied.
He reached out to the Jewish people with gestures of reconciliation in a way that no Pope had ever done before.
I remember that one of his first, perhaps his very first acts as Pope was one that gave me a sense of what a genuinely thoughtful person he was. The previous Pontiff, John Paul the first, had died only 33 days after his ordination, not long enough to distinguish himself as previous Popes had. When Karol Wojtyla was elected to the position, he could have taken the name of one who had been lauded for great and glorified deeds, but instead, he called himself John Paul II, in order that he might honor his recently deceased predecessor and allow his name to live on. I can recall thinking, or rather feeling that this was a very magnanimous, kindhearted gesture. I was only 11 years old at the time, but I understood then, and I remember it still.

04-06-2005, 04:03 AM	#7
Sundreme Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 132	Even though I'm Jewish, I could still appreciate the goodness and decency that Pope John Paul II personfied. He reached out to the Jewish people with gestures of reconciliation in a way that no Pope had ever done before. I remember that one of his first, perhaps his very first acts as Pope was one that gave me a sense of what a genuinely thoughtful person he was. The previous Pontiff, John Paul the first, had died only 33 days after his ordination, not long enough to distinguish himself as previous Popes had. When Karol Wojtyla was elected to the position, he could have taken the name of one who had been lauded for great and glorified deeds, but instead, he called himself John Paul II, in order that he might honor his recently deceased predecessor and allow his name to live on. I can recall thinking, or rather feeling that this was a very magnanimous, kindhearted gesture. I was only 11 years old at the time, but I understood then, and I remember it still.