Conservative and revolutionary
John Paul II was the first Pope to declare anti-Semitism a sin
His election was an admission by the Catholic Church that its center of gravity was moving from the old world towards new borders.
In the wealthy, well-fed West, religion has become nothing more than a pastime, something best left to one’s free time. But in Eastern Europe, and even more so in South America, Africa, and Asia, there is a large reserve of Catholic believers.
In the third world, religion - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu - remains a central factor in personal identity. It is still something worth fighting over, and even something dying for.
Ideological battlefield
When Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II, Poland was a cultural and ideological battlefield. The Catholic Church was the only body that dared to stand up to the communist dictatorship, not in the name of enlightenment, but rather due to a long-standing tradition of resisting any and all developments of the modern world.
The first Polish Pope came to Rome from a country where religious conservatism was both radical and revolutionary. He never hesitated to act in the name of Catholic Truth, whether it earned him applause or condemnation.
With no hesitation, he stood up against communism, and played an important role in its downfall.
But those same principles led him to object strongly to abortion, women priests, homosexuality, and birth control - even in the face of the African AIDS epidemic.
The Truth, he said, is no popularity contest.
'Jewish people have lost a true friend'
In only one area did John Paul II veer from his conservative background - with relation to Jews. He worked hard, not only in practice but also in theory. He denounced anti-Semitism in favor of Christian tolerance, and called the Jews the loved older brother of Catholicism - a departure from prior Church teaching that God abandoned the Jews for rejecting Jesus.
He rejected the traditional Catholic claim that the Hebrew Bible was replaced by the New Testament.
He said anti-Semitism was a sin against God, with a clarity never heard from the Catholic Church.
The Jewish people have lost a true friend.
