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	Vatican Must Now Find Way Ahead in Pope JP II Debate The Herald April 30, 2011 http://www.herald.ie/national-news/vatican-must-now-find-way-ahead-in-pope-jp-ii-debate-2634223.html TOMORROW, around 300,000 people will stand in St Peter's Square to hear Pope Benedict declare his predecessor, Pope John Paul II 'blessed', that is one step closer to being declared a saint. For most of us, saints are figures cloaked in the mist of time and usually have an appeal around exam time. St Padre Pio is a favourite of students -- or St Anthony when we need to find something we've lost. To have actually lived and grown up during the lifetime of a modern-day saint takes a bit of getting used to. I actually met Pope John Paul II twice as a journalist, which makes the notion of knowing a saint all the more surreal. celebrity However many are not so sure that the rush after only five years to make the former Polish Pontiff a saint is in the best interest of the Church -- certainly the lack of tolerance by many Catholics of raising these questions is worrying in itself. The Pope was a great role model for Catholics and left a huge legacy in writings and speeches, as well as being a global media celebrity, that should be enough for now as there is arguably less of a hurry to hold him up as a model which he already is. It is also argued that by rushing his sainthood, it looks like sainthood is an entitlement of office for Popes. John Paul was the first global celebrity Pope -- where does the adulation that a celebrity gets stop and the respect for a holy man begin? Because he was Pope for so long, most of those in the Vatican were appointed by him so there is not a critical time gap for people and the Church to step back and assess him after a reasonable amount of time. Other critics suggest that it looks like a political move to not just canonise a Pope but to also put a strong zeal on his policies. John Paul II was a controversial Pope, especially for his conservative view on sexual morality and for many he moved the Church away from much of what they would say were the liberal reforms of Vatican II. It will take decades to assess this legacy for good or ill. Some Catholics complain that John Paul is being beatified ahead of Paul VI, who oversaw the implementation of Vatican II reforms, and before the canonisation of John XXIII, also known as the Good Pope. holocaust Some more conservative Catholics, wonder why John Paul II has leaped ahead of Pius XII, the Pope during the Second World War, whom they believe deserves to be acquitted from charges that he didn't do enough to resist the Holocaust. Of course Vatican officials will insist that a beatification and canonisation is not the ratification of all of a Pope's policies but most people believe it is and that this move on Sunday is a desire to nail down the legacy of John Paul. Perhaps the most compelling argument for a delay in the rush to make John Paul a saint is his tolerance of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado. The founder of the Legion of Christ was a paedophile and financially corrupt and caused huge damage to the Church internationally. How much did the Pope know of the emerging abuse problem? It was only after the death of Pope John Paul that Pope Benedict was free to move against Father Maciel. Yet those in favour of the beatification will say that modern Popes are expected to be saints, to be a global voice of conscience and a peacemaker. guillotine Not only that, Popes don't get to resign and there is no earthy reward to what is seen as a very difficult job. Pope Benedict XVI compared his election in 2005 to going to the guillotine. They will also argue that the celebrity status of the Pope demonstrates the recognition of Catholics around the world that this was a remarkable man, not without fault. For all the argument, most can agree that John Paul remains a colossus of the 20th Century, saint or not.
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