Pope John Paul II Marks 25 Tumultuous Years
VATICAN CITY — A quarter-century ago, when a relatively unknown Polish archbishop became pope, Jimmy Carter was president of the United States and the Soviet Union was a superpower. Leftist revolution swept into Latin America, championed in some cases by Roman Catholic priests. Israel and Egypt made peace. The world's first test-tube baby was born.
The planet now is a very different place, and John Paul II, who today marks his 25th anniversary in power, has had a hand in shaping events to a degree unrivaled by any other religious figure in modern history.
His election on Oct. 16, 1978, "was itself a breaker of precedents," the Jesuit magazine America said in an editorial this month, "and ever since his election, John Paul II's pontificate has been setting records that none of his predecessors could have imagined."
He is stooped, slumped and sick now, a shadow of the robust, athletic man who became the first non-Italian pope in 4 1/2 centuries. But he soldiers on, determined, his aides say, to work and preach until his life ends, serving in his waning years as a symbol of perseverance and faith over adversity.
On Wednesday, in his weekly audience at St. Peter's Square, John Paul invited tens of thousands of pilgrims to join him today to "praise the Lord and thank him for this happy event." He again had difficulty speaking but withstood an hour of ceremony.
Through the decades, John Paul has transformed the papacy and become a crusader who helped bring about the fall of communism, fostered a historic reconciliation between Catholics and Jews, and remained a steady -- if often ignored -- voice for peace and against war, including the wars waged by the West.
He also has imposed a conservative theological doctrine that brooks no dissent, and he has opposed in unwavering fashion the ordination of female priests, birth control, abortion and gay marriage.
Though a champion of the poor, he also has suppressed the leftist liberation theology that put priests in the trenches alongside the poor.
The force of his personality and moral authority have made him a hero in much of Europe and Latin America and some of the exotic places he has ventured to as part of a mission to make the church and the Holy See more visible.
Yet his orthodoxy and the sexual abuse scandal plaguing the U.S. church have contributed to the growing alienation from the Vatican of the American faithful, who account for a small but affluent percentage of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics.
- More Baltic Bishops May 09, 1991
- World IN BRIEF - SLOVAKIA - Pope Plans to Canonize Martyrs Jul 02, 1995
- WORLD - Pope Urges Missionary Zeal Jan 22, 1991
