Papal legacy
The comments of two Catholic women -- one from the world's newest state, East Timor, the other from New York -- about Pope John Paul II, the former leader of about 1.1 billion Catholic faithful, accurately reflected the feelings of so many people around the globe.
"The pope is a figure who has a high level of charisma and can unite all, from various races, ethnic groups and relations," said East Timorese Isabel Ferreira on Friday (before the pope's death on Saturday), as quoted by the Agence-France Presse.
The pope provided pivotal moral strength to people in the predominantly Catholic territory during their struggle for independence from Indonesia.
The new state was established 10 years after the Catholic leader visited the territory in October 1989, and the pope was personally involved in helping people there achieve independence while continuing to maintain good relations with Indonesia.
Aedmar Kelly, attending a Friday evening mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, described the pope as "a very special man, not only for the Church but for the world".
Pope John Paul II's recent illness and his passing on Saturday attracted attention around the globe. For many people, it became a family matter, like the experience of losing a beloved father.
It is no exaggeration to say that the influence and moral power of the pope, who visited more than 100 countries during his papacy, which began in October 1978, reached far beyond the Catholic religion.
He condemned the killing of Muslims in Bosnia and consistently supported the struggle for Palestinian statehood. He was among the outspoken critics of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, but still earned the respect of U.S. President George W. Bush. The pope was among key figures -- in the words of former Soviet Union leader Michael Gorbachev -- behind the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe.
The suffering of Acehnese Muslims also attracted his attention. For years, Pope John Paul II referred to the Muslim- Christian clashes in Maluku and Poso, Central Sulawesi, in his prayers.
To Indonesian Catholics, a minority in the country, his message was always consistent. He said they "must be fully Catholic and fully Indonesian at the same time".
"I therefore call on all Indonesian Catholics to become children of the nation and good Indonesian citizens," he said when he visited Indonesia in 1989.
Many Catholics, especially in industrialized countries, disagreed with the pope's conservative stance on issues like contraceptives, abortion and same sex marriage. And during the papacy of John Paul II, the Catholic Church was tarnished by numerous sex scandals, with the pope being seen as doing more to protect the Church and the priests involved than the victims.
In Indonesia, many Catholics ignored the papal stance on the use of contraceptives, choosing instead to practice family planning. But as the leader of the Catholic Church, it was his duty to provide strong religious guidance to his followers, leading them down what he believed to be the correct spiritual path.
The death of Pope John Paul II is not only a great loss for the Catholic Church and Catholics around the world, but also for others regardless of their religion. With globalization and the increasing divide between the rich and the poor, and the world's few powerful nations deciding the fate of the rest of the globe, someone like Pope John Paul II is needed to speak out for those without a voice.
We have lost not just a great leader but a father; a father who loved his family and provided strong moral guidance, not just for his family but also for neighbors and everyone else who knew him.