Thoughts on the Pope

The death of Pope John Paul II reminded me that I had named him Man of the Century back in December of 1999, in the print version of Ideas Hatched. I also had dished out some other honorariums, reproduced below for your enjoyment. You'll also see Ronald Reagan listed as the American of the Century. The two survived the assassins bullet within 1 year of each other, and now have met their maker within 1 year of each other - both felt that they were spared death for a purpose, and indeed they were. But before launching into the entry, I found this on Powerline - it is the NYT coverage of the Pope's death on their website, later corrected, but not before the guys at Powerline caught this:

Even as his own voice faded away, his views on the sanctity of all human life echoed unambiguously among Catholics and Christian evangelicals in the United States on issues from abortion to the end of life.

need some quote from supporter

John Paul II's admirers were as passionate as his detractors, for whom his long illness served as a symbol for what they said was a decrepit, tradition-bound papacy in need of rejuvenation and a bolder connection with modern life.

"The situation in the Catholic church is serious," Hans Kung, the eminent Swiss theologian, who was barred by from teaching in Catholic schools because of his liberal views, wrote last week. "The pope is gravely ill and deserves every compassion. But the Church has to live. ...
In my opinion, he is not the greatest pope but the most contradictory of the 20th century. A pope of many, great gifts, and of many bad decisions!"

Among liberal Catholics, he was criticized for his strong opposition to abortion, homosexuality and contraception, as well as the ordination of women and married men. Though he was never known as a strong administrator of the dense Vatican bureaucracy, he kept a centralizing hand on the selection of bishops around the world and enforced a rigid adherence to many basic church teachings among the clergy and Catholic theologians.

Classic - three paragraphs of criticism, and a reminder to themselves to find a quote from someone who supports him - but not any from a supporter who might address the complaints of the minority of Catholics who read the NYT and had big issues with the Pope. The last paragraph, apparently a complaint about his centralizing dogmatic governance strikes me as the funniest - I heard it echoed by Andrew Sullivan on TV this weekend - why not allow the bishops more autonomy, goes the argument. My guess is that the primary critics of the Pope are American Catholics - and now all of a sudden people are arguing that the American Catholic Church bishops should have more autonomy? It seems to me that most of them could do with a lot less. The last thing the papacy needs is a "bolder connection to modern life."


Athlete of the Century:

Here, the honor goes to Carl Lewis, for a number of reasons. The longevity of his dominance in the long jump and his contention as one of the world’s best in the sprints is extraordinary for his sport – he was world class for about 14 years, when other great sprinters are lucky to be around for 8 years. He also benefits from competing in a sport where there is no team dependency: it is hard to measure the feats of someone like Joe Montana separate from Jerry Rice, or Michael Jordan separate from Scottie Pippen. Mohammid Ali, despite being the most known, lost three times, and one of those losses was to Leon Spinks, who would probably lose to Carl Lewis in a fight. There is an argument for Babe Ruth, but I could never choose a Yankee.


Man of the Century:
Pope John Paul II. He was instrumental, along with Ronald Reagan, in freeing millions from the oppressive grip of communism, especially in his home country, Poland. He has revitalized the Catholic Church, while at the same making great strides in improving relations between Catholics, Jews, and other Christians. He has employed his extraordinary intellect, compassion, and spirituality in the service of God and His Church, and his witness provides hope to a world emerging from its most brutal century in history.

American of the Century:

Ronald Reagan – Ended the Cold War, revitalized the economy, energized a nation that had lost its moral confidence in foreign affairs, and began, if not the rollback, at least the restraining of the growth of pernicious liberal social programs that have ravaged our cities and undermined the family. FDR goes down as the myth of the century. His economic policies, which were at the time credited with ending the Depression (and still are by most Democrats), probably prolonged the Depression by many years. Social Security, one of his great “achievements”, is an intergenerational Ponzi scheme that is about to run its course. He gave away half of Europe to Stalin because of naivete with respect to Communism. And finally, he ran for President for his fourth term knowing full well he’d be dead in little more than a year, concealing that information from the public in a manner most undemocratic.

Woman of the Century:

Mother Theresa. Any head to head comparison that some might make in suggesting Princess Diana would be laughable, though no doubt it will happen. “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me.” Everything she did was for the most impoverished of India (where, in contrast to poor people in the US, the poor do not own an average of 2 TVs).

Greatest Generation of Americans:

The WWII generation. Enough has been said about this generation that nothing more can be added by me. One thing that troubles me, however, is the fact that Tom Brokaw has recently dubbed it the greatest in American history, which is enough to make me rethink my choice. But the only knock against them that I can think of is that they went on to raise…

The Worst Generation of Americans:

The Sixties generation. They would not be my pick if they had followed Timothy Leary’s order to “tune in, turn on (i.e. take LSD), and drop out,” but at some point in time they traded in their tie dies for ties, managed to fake their urine sample, and began to be elected to positions of power. This cannot be what Leary meant by dropping out, though I am sure he took solace in the fact that they wield their power as if they are still turning on. Their kids, invariably raised in broken homes, are left to try to clean up the mess they created. The recent swing music craze, which harkens back to the WWII generation, provides hope that this generation knows where to look for its example.