Do you people learn anything? This person has shown you over and over that s/he feeds on your anger. To even acknowledge this person's vitriol only feeds her/him. Those that respond are acting in an ignorant and irresponsible way if you tire of this stuff on the Mudcat.

God be good to this man. I had severe disagreements with him in a number of areas, but he was consistent. And he was an ardent supporter of workers rights, as well as a critic of the Iraq war. I believe he acted out of conscience, out of his strong convictions. Bush is a hypocrite, he says one thing, does another. One never had to wonder where the Pope was coming from.

On NPR this afternoon, they interviewed a boyhood friend who was Jewish. He told the story of how, at age 13, Karol Wotyla came to his home on Saturday and asked him to come and play soccer on his team. The boyhead friend explained that it was the Sabbath for Jews and he had to take his Mother to Synagogue. The friend said that the future Pope was very apologetic for not realizing this. And Wojtyla went on to tell the young Jew that he would be blessed for being faithful to his religion. The old man said that a hallmark of his boyhood friend, even at the young age of 13, was tolerance of others religions.

Yeah, he was very rigid when it came to the ordination of women, and on the issue of abortion/death penalty/pro life. But he reached out to the world, he ministered to the young, he chastised world leaders, spent Christmas Eve with the man who attempted to kill him, and a week from his death he was still trying to minister to his flock. He always spoke of how every part of life, even the pain and the dying, was sacred. And he went to meet his boss faithful to those principles to the end. He was a true mystic, and loved every single one of us. God be good to him.

Mick