Death is certain and no one can escape from its claws. When we were born we cry and the people around us all laugh and in contrast when we die the people around us all cry. Today the whole world is crying for the death of Pope John Paul II. He was not only the Pontiff for the 1.1 billion Roman Catholics around the world and also an accepted leader for the rest of the world for his approach towards world peace without any religious barriers.

Born on May 18, 1920 in a small town in Southern Poland, he was raised by his father since his mother died when he was eight years.

In the church hierarchy, he advanced steadily from parish priest to Bishop of Krakow, a city in Southern Poland and was widely known to the western ecclesiastical authorities. When he was elected Pope in 1978 he was fifty-eight.

His extraordinary quality of treating every one with humanity unfolded when a fanatic who had tried to kill him. In 1981, a Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Agca who suddenly came out of the crowd in Saint Peter Square and shot him at a close range. The unexpected incident forced Pope to go for an extensive surgery as he was shot four times. After the surgery his health was badly affected and in that state he met the imprisoned man for the assassination attempt and said that he has forgiven him.

On the other side of this kind hearted spiritual leader we could see a different personality. The church reformers and the young generation became worried at him about the strong refusal to give ground on contraception, use of condoms, abortion and artificial childbirth. According to reliable sources, many women have deserted themselves from church because of Pope's stand on contraception and the ordinance of women.

He has to be remembered for sanctioning the policy of no tolerance by Vatican when high profile scandals involving many paedophile priests shook the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He said ironically without hesitation that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young.

As the first non-Italian Pope came from a communist country in four hundred and fifty five years and 263rd successor to Saint Peter as Bishop of Rome, he met many significant world leaders and visited 129 countries including India during his twenty-six years period.

More than a spiritual leader he lived for the upliftment of the down trodden and oppressed masses. By entering into a mosque he became the first Pope and shown the world of his love towards other religions. He played a role as bridge between humanity and God.

In the last ten years or so he was increasingly suffering from Parkinson disease, arthritis and other ailments. Following the failure of his two kidneys and heart problems he was counting his final days from the last couple of months.

After hearing the news that the Pope was on his way of final phase of his journey of life people started accumulating in large numbers at Saint Peter Square and crying and shouting towards the window as "Pope, please don't leave from us". Then by the nature of Almighty, at last the end came to the whole world to mourn. Let all pray for his soul to rest in peace.

S Sankara Subramanian
Melbourne,
Australia

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