Pope dies at 84. The new Pope.

[Sean Jon]

Pope John Paul II Dies at 84

2 hours, 4 minutes ago Europe - AP


By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II, who helped topple communism in Europe and left a deeply conservative stamp on the church that he led for 26 years, died Saturday night in his Vatican apartment, ending a long public struggle against debilitating illness. He was 84.


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"We all feel like orphans this evening," Undersecretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri told the crowd of 70,000 that gathered in St. Peter's Square below the pope's still-lighted apartment windows.


A Mass was scheduled for St. Peter's Square for 10:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EDT) Sunday. The pope's body was expected to be taken to St. Peter's Basilica no earlier than Monday afternoon, the Vatican said.


It said the College of Cardinals — the red-robed "princes" of the Roman Catholic Church — would meet at 10 a.m. (4 a.m. EDT) Monday. They were expected to set a funeral date, which the Vatican said probably would be between Wednesday and Friday.


The statement did not give a precise cause of death.


Bells pealed in mourning after the Vatican said the pope died at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST). The assembled flock fell into a stunned silence before some people broke out in applause — an Italian tradition in which mourners often clap for important figures. Others wept.


John Paul's passing set in motion centuries of tradition that mark the death of the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, whom he led into the faith's third millennium.


The Vatican chamberlain formally verified the death and destroyed the symbols of the pope's authority: his fisherman's ring and dies used to make lead seals for apostolic letters.


The Vatican did not say if the chamberlain followed the ancient practice of verification by calling the pope's name three times and tapping his forehead three times with a silver hammer.


John Paul's funeral will be held within four to six days. The Vatican has declined to say whether he left instructions for his funeral or burial. Most popes in recent centuries have asked to be buried in the crypts below St. Peter's Basilica, but some have suggested the first Polish-born pope might have chosen to be laid to rest in his native country.


As John Paul's death neared, members of the College of Cardinals were already headed toward the Vatican to prepare for the secret duty of locking themselves in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope. Tradition calls for the process to begin within 20 days of death.


Among possible successors are German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — one of the pope's closest aides and the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog. Others mentioned include Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Vatican-based Nigerian, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Austria and Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Italy.


Karol Joseph Wojtyla was a robust 58 when the last papal conclave stunned the world and elected the cardinal from Krakow, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.


In his later years, John Paul — the most-traveled pope in history — was the picture of frailty. In addition to Parkinson's, he survived a 1981 assassination attempt, when a Turkish gunman shot him in the abdomen, and had hip and knee ailments. His anguished struggle with failing health became a symbol of aging and, in the end, death with dignity.


Outside the Vatican, the crowd of faithful recited the rosary. A seminarian slowly waved a large red and white Polish flag draped with a black band of mourning for the Polish-born pontiff.


Prelates asked those in the square to keep silent so they might "accompany the pope in his first steps into heaven."


As the bells tolled in mourning, a group of young people sang, "Alleluia, he will rise again," while one of them strummed a guitar. Later, pilgrims joined in singing the "Ave Maria."





"The angels welcome you," Vatican TV said after papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced the death of the pope, who had for years suffered from Parkinson's disease and came down with fever and infections in recent weeks.

In contrast to the church's ancient traditions, Navarro-Valls announced the death to journalists in the most modern of communication forms, an e-mail that said: "The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. in his private apartment." The spokesman said church officials were following instructions that John Paul had written for them on Feb. 22, 1996.

"He was a marvelous man. Now he's no longer suffering," Concetta Sposato, a pilgrim who heard the pope had died as she was on her way to St. Peter's to pray, said tearfully.

"My father died last year. For me, it feels the same," said Elisabetta Pomacalca, a 25-year-old Peruvian who lives in Rome.

"I'm Polish. For us, he was a father," said pilgrim Beata Sowa.

In Washington, President Bush mourned the loss of "a good and faithful servant of God (who) has been called home" and said the pontiff "launched a democratic revolution that swept Eastern Europe and changed the course of history."

A fierce enemy of communism, John Paul set off the sparks that helped bring down communism in Poland, from where a virtual revolution spread across the Soviet bloc. No less an authority than former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said much of the credit went to John Paul.

But his Polish roots also nourished a doctrinal conservatism — opposition to contraception, abortion and women priests — that rankled liberal Catholics in the United States and western Europe.

A man who had lived under both the Nazis and the Soviets, he loathed totalitarianism, which he called "substitute religion." As pope, he helped foster Poland's Solidarity movement and bring down Communism. Once it was vanquished, he decried capitalist callousness.

During World War II, he appeared on a Nazi blacklist in 1944 for his activities in a Christian democratic underground in Poland. B'nai B'rith and other organizations testified that he helped Jews find refuge from the Nazis.

While the pope championed better relations with Jews — Christianity's "older brothers," as he put it — the Vatican formally recognized Israel in 1993. He also met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and urged the Holy Land's warring neighbors to reconcile.

John Paul was intent on improving relations with Muslims. On a trip to Damascus, Syria, in May 2001, he became the first pope to step into a mosque.

The 264th pope also battled what he called a "culture of death" in modern society. It made him a hero to those who saw him as their rock in a degenerating world, and a foe to those who felt he was holding back social enlightenment.

"The church cannot be an association of freethinkers," John Paul said.

However, a sex abuse scandal among clergy plunged his church into moral crisis. He summoned U.S. cardinals to the Vatican and told them: "The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God." Critics accused the pope of not acting swiftly enough.

Other critics said that while the pope championed the world's poor, he was not consistent when he rebuked Latin American priests who sought to involve the church politically through the doctrine of "liberation theology."

John Paul's health declined rapidly after he suffered heart and kidney failure following two hospitalizations in as many months. Just two hours before announcing his death, the Vatican had said he was in "very serious" condition, although he was responding to aides.

After his passing, Vatican, Italian and European Union flags were lowered to half-staff. In Washington, flags over the White House also were lowered.

People in John Paul II's hometown in Wadowice, Poland, fell to their knees and wept as the news reached them at the end of a special Mass in the church where he worshipped as a boy.

Church bells rang out after the announcement, but it took several minutes for people inside the packed church to find out as they continued their vigil into a second night.

Then the parish priest, the Rev. Jakub Gil, came to the front as the last hymn faded away. "His life has come to an end. Our great countryman has died," he said. People inside the church and standing outside fell to their knees.

The pope was last seen in public Wednesday when, looking gaunt and unable to speak, he briefly appeared at his window.

His health sharply deteriorated the next day after he suffered a urinary tract infection.

In its final medical statement Saturday, Navarro-Valls said John Paul was not in a coma and opened his eyes when spoken to. But he added: "Since dawn this morning, there have been first signs that consciousness is being affected."

"Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but when you speak to him he opens his eyes," Navarro-Valls said.

Navarro-Valls said the pope was still speaking late Friday but did not take part when Mass was celebrated in his presence Saturday morning.

He said aides had told the pope that thousands of young people were in St. Peter's Square on Friday evening. Navarro-Valls said the pope appeared to be referring to them when he seemed to say: "'I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.'"

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sad day

[kishkash]

yah...sad day...

i can't continue living im so grief ridden...he touched my life in such a positive way

[Crampaholic]

LMFAO... oh come on.. get a grip.. a new pope will arrive and things will be just like b4 another person died something simple as simple as math

[kishkash]

how can u SAY such a thing boo...he was a gentle man...the BEST POPE THERE WAS! *restrains tears*

...how can i go on

[spyretto]

"What are they gonna say about him? What are they gonna say? That he was a kind man? That he was a wise man? That he had plans? That he had wisdom? Bullshit man!"

Ahem, from Apocalypse Now

[haku]

John Paul II has led a very homophobic and misogynistic official policy, not to mention his ridiculous position on not using protection to prevent aids, i'm no fan of his. His death won't change anything though, his successor will follow the same conservative policy.

[Crampaholic]

awww my condolences *gives a cookie* ok now wanna make out?

[Crampaholic]

yup see? a homophobic.. now u all gays? still feel sad about him?

[kishkash]

Originally Posted by Crampaholic

awww my condolences *gives a cookie* ok now wanna make out?

u wanna make out with amber? OOooOOO someone has a crush on haku

Originally Posted by haku

John Paul II has led a very homophobic and misogynistic official policy, not to mention his ridiculous position on not using protection to prevent aids, i'm no fan of his.

w0rd...he was an asshole of the heighest order IMO. He turned a blind eye to his purple hats while they got enthralled in child molestation scandals...such a good man he was...

[spyretto]

I'm not gay and feel sad about it...thought about the mystery of life and death and all...then I realised I'm losing my faith.

[kishkash]

...i just wonder what's gonna happen when he gets to 'heaven' and realizes that he hasn't been the 'good man' everyone says he was. In order to be a 'representative of god' he has to be an accepting man...which he never was.

The new pope won't be anything better. Now the Dalai Lama is a person to model urself after

[Crampaholic]

he died to get a better life in heaven,.... if that exists

[spyretto]

..it depends, maybe God's also homophobic and misogynistic, It's a He after all, made woman out of man's ribs to obey man, and homosexuality is a big sin.

So John Paul II should be passimg Saint Peter's gates and going straight to God's open arms as we speak.

( Refer to the Old Testament for further details. )

[forre]

I think Pope did a good job if to consider on what side he was standing. Popes are the most influential people on this planet, so if to consider the ammount of resposibility and pressure it was put on him, he did it just fine.

I can't be really sad that a man died of aging. It's natural and sooner or later we all be there. There will be a new Pope and a new era of leadership. Maybe I could be sad if I knew him personally but I understand this hype around his death - people love global dramas. I bet some of them are sitting and crying now just like that, just for the drama's sake.

Sorry if it sounded a little callous, well ... I'm not but considering that every single minute several people die on this planet - I can't cry for all of them and the Pope is just one of many who died yesterday.

[Sean Jon]

i never really followed up on him during his life but i like him for what he did about the anti-semitism. he cleared up the story basically and helped prevent more and he eased up anti-semitism.

im not jewish but i am against anti-semitism and all racism at fact.

[nath]

Originally Posted by forre

I think Pope did a good job if to consider on what side he was standing. Popes are the most influential people on this planet, so if to consider the ammount of resposibility and pressure it was put on him, he did it just fine.
I can't be really sad that a man died of aging. It's natural and sooner or later we all be there..

I absolutely agree with this comment. Personnally I liked this man cause before Popes were kind of inaccessible mommies living in Vatican . Pope Jean-Paul II tried to travell a lot to share his Faith and carried with him a lot of warm feelings..He tried to be very active....I think his position about East countries was very courageous too, even if he was involved in this subject by his own story.

The evolution of the Christian Church is another story , i agree it doesn't follow the evolution of society about such delicate subject as AIDS and so on...but I keep respect for this man. I always liked him very much.

[spyretto]

I remember a few years ago he personally insisted to visit Greece and he was the first pope to issue a formal apology for "sins of action and omission" against the Orthodox Christians. Not sure if those Orthodox heads of Church themselves were deserving of such behavour but it was a bold decision on his part in any case.
So he was a man who wasn't afraid of responsibility.

[taty994945]

I think that pope guy had a kind face and he looked like a nice person. Rest in peace.

[freddie]

The first (and probably the last) slavic pope ever.

I have mixed feelings for him. He was a bit of an odd bird. Taking all the fanatical catholic views aside, he did do a lot of good to the world and to humanization of christianity. He did the historic move when he appologized for all the bad the catholic church did in the past, like oppressing Jews, women, minorities etc... He was also the first Pope to walk into a Mosk in Siria in an atempt to bridge the gap and lessen the hate between religions. He fought for the fall of communism in Poland and the iron curtain as a whole. He believed in freedom and realized that corrupted communist regimes weren't providing for it. Commendable.

But at the same time he had some seriously extreme conservative views, which most certainly don't belong to the 21st century. Yeah I know that the Catholic Church is a conseravtive organization in it's core, but still... these are the new times...it's time to move on. Despite all his preaching about women being equal he never allowed them to be admitted into priesthood. Which made then unequal by default. Then he proclaimed homosexuality as evil. I think I don't even have to say what he thought of homosexual marriages, then. Abstinence from sex was the only true way to God in his opinion. He was against abortion (which he called legalized mass-murder) and at the same time he was against contraception (oh, the irony). Can I still respect him despite all these bad sides to him? Actually... No. ... I can't respect a man who claimed homosexuality is the modern form of evil, or the one who didn't recognize women's right to have a choice over their own bodies, or who is against the use of condoms in Africa, which could save millions of lives. I'm sorry, but a person who thinks like that is either a hypocrite or a blinded conserative. Either way I can't respect him. All taht being said I can still appreciate the good things he did. He was an important figure in history. He's a definitive proof that no man is all good or all bad. It's just a matter of ballance between the two.

Can you imagine his reaction when he first realizes there's no heaven, though? (but like some other form of after-life completely unrelated to christian dogma). He'd be like: "WTF is this? What IS this shit? Were are Jesus and all the angels?!"

[spyretto]

Originally Posted by freddie

Can you imagine his reaction when he first realizes there's no heaven, though? (but like some other form of after-life completely unrelated to christian dogma). He'd be like: "WTF is this? What IS this shit? Were are Jesus and all the angels?!"

IF there's anything at all, that is...Big IF