More News Updates John Paul II
Joe Gandelman
This post will direct you to some useful news updates that have emerged in the wake of the death of Pope John Paul II several hours ago:
--Pontificate of John Paul: The statistics is a useful breakdown via Reuters. Here are just a few in the long list:
The Pope reigned for 26 years, five months and 15 days, the third-longest pontificate in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, which spans some 2,000 years.
The longest Papal reign is believed to be that of St Peter, who presided for at least 34 years. There were a number of Popes who ruled for a month or less in the Middle Ages.
One man, Stephen II, was elected in 757 but died four days later, before he was officially installed. The shortest reign in modern times was that of John Paul II's predecessor, John Paul I, who reigned for just 33 days.
It then gives you a list of specifics.
--Did the Pope's dying hours uplift the church's image? The AP thinks it did. Here's part of the report:
Largely forgotten, for the moment, are liberal Catholics' long-standing criticisms of the pope's strict church policies and parishioners' lingering anger at bishops for the clerical sex abuse scandal that erupted three years ago in the United States, leading to bankruptcy in three dioceses.
(Author David) Gibson thinks that the human drama of John Paul's decline - his continued efforts to lead the church right up until his last hours - "helps people move past a lot of the agony and bickering and pain and scandal of these recent years."
He and Chester Gillis, theology chairman at Georgetown University, agree that both liberals and conservatives have, in Gillis' words, "galvanized around the person, not necessarily the teaching or the discipline of the church that he maintained."
"Even though people disagreed with him on things, he was a remarkable world leader and communicator, an unusual intellect, a polyglot," Gillis said. "The combination of skills and gifts this man possessed was rare, and people appreciate that."
Indeed, this once again points out the importance of personality, charisma and inner strength in effective leadership — qualities that can propel a leader to greatness if they're in large quantities.
