Letters to the Editor, April 4, 2005

Condolences

Dear Friends:

I extend you and, particularly, the followers of the Catholic Church my deep condolonces and profound sympathy, as we all (Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Pudists, etc.) mourn the passing of the Pop, John Paul the II.

This man was not ONLY a spiritual leader for the Catholic Church during the last 26 years, but he also was, indeed, an international figure and a global champion for peace, freedom, multi-faith dialogue and, above all, diginty, respect and love of human being, regardless his/her color, race, faith, or otherwise.

In sympathy and solidarity,

Hilmi Salem, Canada

The Pope’s Unfinished Message

As Pope John Paul II neared the final hours of his life he dictated a last message to his secretary which contained the phrase urging his followers “Do not weep.” This calls to mind, of course, the passage in Luke’s Gospel when the condemned Jesus spoke his only words on the way to his crucifixion. He turned and said to the tearful Women of Jerusalem who were following him, “Stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” For days of destruction were coming, He told them, when the barren would be considered blessed.

Was Pope Paul’s phrase “Do not weep” an unfinished message to the world not to weep for him but for ourselves and for our children? He persistently warned that a spreading "culture of death," in forms ranging from genocide and "ethnic cleansing" to abortion, euthanasia and the frenzied pursuit of material goods, was leading to a "blunting of the moral sensitivity of people's consciences."

Don Speakman, Bahama, N.C., USA