Why was Bl. Pope John Paul II so great?

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adawgj said:
He helped end the Cold War especially in his home country Poland.
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He practically did that himself, telling Gorbachev that if he tried to stop Solidarność (Solidarity), that he would take off his robes and go and join them. Any rumours that you hear that the west had anything to do with the end of communism is just a lie.

He somehow drew people towards himself.
 
johnnyt3000 said:
I have seen a lot of Catholics who really like him always say he was so great, in fact when he died people were chanting “sainthood now”, I was too young to really know much about him, he died when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, so why was he so great?
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When John Paul II was elected pope in October 1978, the teaching and the faith of the Church were terribly misrepresented by many theologians, who were spreading dissent and telling the people that the old men in the Vatican (including Paul VI) didn't know what they were talking about when they insisted on the centrality of the mass, on the role of the Mother of God in salvation, and on the authority of the Church on matters of marriage and reproduction. Paul VI had been venomously attacked since he issued the encyclical "Humanae Vitae" in the summer of 1968, which not only affirmed the goodness of natural procreation by continuing the prohibition on artificial means of preventing conception & birth but also prophesied the dangers to mankind on abandoning that teaching. For a decade he became the target of the "progressive" wing of the Church, and, sadly, became equally targeted by the traditional wing when the liturgical changes became an excuse for wild experimentation, abolishing altars, etc. Despite great gifts and a heart for the faith, he was vastly misrepresented and attacked, and the Vatican lacked the means then of quick communication and response to challenges that it has today. John Paul II not only was a much younger man, with a resonant voice and radiant presence, but at that time, it was thought that the atheist, Soviet domination of half of Europe would last forever, and he had lived, become a priest and bishop, under the reign of anti-Christian totalitarian systems, first the Nazis, then the communists. He actually put into full operation the program that the Fathers of Vatican had endorsed & Paul VI had begun & outlined, in which the faithful were to approach the contemporary world with both courage and humility, recognizing both our common humanity with the unbelieving and our mission to be and to bring Christ to them in all ways possible, and not to hide in bunkers as if Christ had not triumphed over the world in His Resurrection.
 
Why “WAS” ?!?!?

Let us rephrase this to "Why IS BL John Paul II great?
Rome, Italy, May 17, 2011 / 03:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The chief exorcist of Rome is seeing a rising number of young people coming under the influence of evil, but he has found in recent years that Blessed John Paul II is a powerful intercessor in the battle for souls. …
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“I have asked the demon more than once, ‘Why are you so scared of John Paul II and I have had two different responses, both interesting. One, ‘because he disrupted my plans.’ And, I think that he is referring to the fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. The collapse of communism.”
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“Another response that he gave me, ‘because he pulled so many young people from my hands.’ There are so many young people who, thanks to John Paul II, were converted. Perhaps some were already Christian but not practicing, but then with John Paul II they came back to the practice. ‘He pulled so many young people out of my hands.’”
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cathinfo.com/catholic.php/Pope-John-Paul-2-effective-in-exorcism
 
He was certainly pious and a remarkable figure. He had great charisma and such like-ability. Yet, questions remain about his papacy. It has been said that his upcoming canonisation is about him and not his papacy. His reaction to the Legionaries of Christ was far from acceptable.
 
Other posters have given excellent reasons that I am not going to repeat. I cannot think of John Paul II without my eyes wanting to tear up, remembering his message of the love and mercy of God. One of the most moving of his speeches was in San Francisco:
In his address at the basilica, John Paul told the AIDS patients, God loves you all-without distinction, without limit. The love of God is so great that it goes beyond the limits of human language, beyond the grasp of artistic expression, beyond human understanding.* *He loves those of you who are sick, those who are suffering from AIDS and from AIDS-related complex. He loves the relatives and friends of the sick and those who care for them. He loves us all with an unconditional and everlasting love.`` articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-18/news/8703100915_1_aids-patients-mission-dolores-basilica-everlasting-love
 
johnnyt3000 said:
I have seen a lot of Catholics who really like him always say he was so great, in fact when he died people were chanting “sainthood now”, I was too young to really know much about him, he died when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, so why was he so great?
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prodigalson2011 said:
All great responses. One thing no one has mentioned, though, was his instrumental role in the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe and, especially, in his native Poland.
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My top two reasons.

The man is just impressive. I like the suggestion of reading the Weigel book. If you do not have time to read it, check with the library and see if they have it on CD. He had an amazing life prior to the papacy. It was with good reason the Cardinals chose someone as young, non-Italian and unique.

I will add my third reason. He bore witness to suffering in his last years as he still served us up until his dying day, like Jesus as he hung on the cross. The world saw weakness. In his weakness, God showed His strength.

Starting Sunday, he will always be St. John Paul the Great to me.
 
Big_Feet said:
I will, and I do plan on bringing all here at the CAF to my intentional prayers as I am in the presence of the Holy Father, and at all the shrines we will visit in our pilgrimage to the Eternal City and Assisi. We will be in Italy for nearly a week and a half.
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Thank you.very much.
 
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