| I agree with bishop. One particularily moving example of the pope's goodwill is when he visited a large assembly of lepers who I think were somewhere in the Philipines (?...there is a picture of the pope's visit). This action perfectly illustrated Pope John Paul's outreach to all peoples, even the lepers, who are socially rejected for their contagious, flesh-eating illness. The pope did not hate practicing homosexuals, people who use contraceptives, and others; he only disapproved of their unethical behavior. Their behavior is unethical not only by the standards of the Roman Catholic Church but also by humanitarians standards. Drpandit even writes that these humanitarian standards are necessary for human survival; homosexual behavior, for example, may lead to an outbreak of AIDS. Contraceptive use may lead to uncontrolled sexual behavior with many people and perhaps an eventual outbreak of sexual diseases from their inevitable misuse at some point. Nonetheless, the pope was great, and it will be extremely difficult to properly replace Pope John Paul II. |