Originally posted by joey
Perhaps it is a sign that I've become old, but the cynicism and hatred exhibited towards the Pope, on this thread, is appalling. You don't have to be Catholic or Christian to mourn a man who has tried to do good for the world. Maybe you disagree with him. Fine. But, to say "may he rot in hell" etc. etc. is cruel.
I've noticed that many of the comments regarding the pope have to do with the fact that he is old and sick. Well, let me tell you this, one of these days (God willing) you, who are very young, will be old and sick yourself or your parents will be. Then, you will see that the worth of a human being is not measured by their youth or good looks or any of the superficiality of American society.
I believe that the Pope has used his illness to teach those of us who are willing to learn, how to cope with age and how to face death with dignity and honor. This is a powerful lesson.
I, for one, will mourn his passing.
joey

He's not a conservative, he's an extremist change-agent
He permitted women in the sanctuary for the first time in Church history (as altar girls)
He legalized communion-in-the-hand; a revolutionary innovation
He has done little or nothing to stop homosexual predators who are priests
He presided over a Mass in Papau, New Guinea with topless female lectors
He praised the demonic traditions of the Voodoo witchdoctors of Benin and said they contain "the Seeds of the Word"
He allowed the statue of Buddha to be placed on the tabernacle of Assisi
His Jewish policy is completely unscriptural (I Thessalonians 2:14-16 )
The Jewish leadership do not constitute the "People of the Covenant" since they revere the man-made traditions of the Babylonian Talmud above God's Old Testament, thereby nullifying the law of God (Mark 7)
The Pope gives repeated mediagenic speeches about the Nazi "holocaust" while saying almost nothing about the Jewish-Communist holocaust against Christians
During his March, 2000 "pilgrimage to the Holy Land," the Pope failed to call for an end to the brutal Zionist occupation of Palestine. This is tantamount to touring the Warsaw ghetto and failing to call for an end to the Nazi occupation of Poland
The so-called "Jews" of today are not "our elder brothers in the Faith," for they despise Jesus Christ who is the fulfillment of the Covenant
Neither are they Jews. Most of them are Khazars from eastern Europe having no genetic descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
It is the Christians who are the Chosen People (I Peter 2:9), not Talmudic Rabbis
By siding with the heirs of the Pharisees, John Paul II proves himself an anti-Christ
The modern Roman Catholic Church is a covert branch of Judaism
John Paul II is an agent of the Pharisees and a betrayer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Muslims in France were praying for the pontiff, leading French Muslim Dalil Boubakeur said, describing him as a "man of peace."

"For us Muslims, he is a man of God, a man who wanted to serve God by serving humanity," said Boubakeur, who is president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith.

Originally posted by paperclipThe Pope has done a LOT to bring down communism in eastern europe.

The Pope has done a lot to further peace between religions too, specialy during Balkan conflict. Croat56 mentioned it already in this thread.
I think that Pope saw the danger of conflicts involving religions, he tried to make peace between them, so when the inevitable time of conflict comes (like right now) people won't give in to hate that easily.
Muslims respect him a lot..

Yesterday I read in a newspaper article that Muslims all over Europe were praying for the Pope, calling him "a man of God".