| Pope John Paul II Passes Away [Updated] | Jayhawk | I'm well aware of the day, April Fools Day, and the tradition in our community to post a joke of some sort. We didn't plan a joke, and instead of throwing together something at the eleventh hour, I'm going to break the tradition to report some very serious and very sad news.
The reports have been coming out of the Vatican all during the day that Pope John Paul II was near death. While he has suffered many illnesses during the past few years, he has always been treated and has recovered. When the Pope was informed of his condition, however, he declined to be hospitalized. His vital organs are weakening and a spokesman from the Vatican has stated that they expect he will likely pass away this evening or tonight. Earlier in the day, around 12:30 PM central time, the Italian media was reporting that the Holy Father had died. The Vatican has denied this, however, and reports that the Pope is still alive and conscious.
While many people are not Catholic and may not respect the Pope as a religious figure, it is impossible to deny his valiant struggle against Parkinson's Disease and his contributions to world peace. Many times when the world stood at the brink of war, the Pope intervened and encouraged leaders to negotiate and come to a peaceful resolution instead of warring. When Pope John Paul II dies, the world will not only have lost a great religious leader, but a great peacemaker as well.
We will continue to report and update this news throughout the evening as more details become available.
Update (by redux at 11:30 AM CST April 2): The latest reports out of the Vatican are that Pope John Paul II is still alive but is showing signs of losing consciousness. According to these reports, the Pope is very calm and is still responsive. He is not in a coma. His condition does not appear to be deteriorating as rapidly as it was yesterday. The Pope does, however, have a very high fever.
I know the update is somewhat old news, but just like yesterday, some of the initial reports of the Pope's condition have been misleading. I've waited until I am sure that I am reporting accurate news. In my humble opinion, it should be no surprise to anyone that the Holy Father has lived longer than doctors and the media expected. Considering his 19 year battle with Parkinson's Disease and his tireless efforts to travel the world even as his health failed, it should be no surprise that the Pope is still alive.
We will continue to update this news as facts become available.
Update (by redux at 2:30 PM CST April 2): The Vatican is reporting that Pope John Paul II has passed away. The Holy Father passed away after a long bout with various diseases including Parkinson's Disease and had been given the last rights a few days before his death. Karol Wojtyla, the name by which the Pope was known until being elected pope in 1978, was originally from Poland and began attending a seminary in 1942. He was ordained in 1946, became a bishop in 1958 and became a Cardinal in 1967. Among other things, Pope John Paul II will be remembered for tirelessly traveling the world to spread the Catholic faith, his efforts to involve young people in the Catholic Church, and his dedication to promoting peace. Pope John Paul II held the papacy for 26 years and many Church leaders believe that he will eventually be made a saint. | | 1 Apr 2005, 14:24 GMT |
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 | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death | JcCorp | | Yes... not good. I've met people who dislike the Pope, but I'd be amazed if they wanted him to die. I do very much wish for him to either recover or at least have no pain. | | 1 Apr 2005, 14:45 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death | allynfolksjr | | Even though I'm a fundamentalist, I cannot deny all of the contributions Pope John Paul II has made to humanity. I've been tracking his status for the past few months, unfortunately, his condition is marginal at best. On a related note, it's good to see that not everyone is completely wrapped up in having to have a April Fools joke news item. | | 1 Apr 2005, 14:54 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death | JcCorp | | Well, I do miss the jokes, but it isn't really appropriate to have that now.
I am Catholic, BTW. | | 1 Apr 2005, 15:06 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death | zkostik | My point exact Jc, with all the stuff going around right now there really isn't much place for jokes. While I'm not religious at all, I respect Pope's deeds to help the humanity. He did countless things so I hope people will respect him at least for that. This is really sad to hear that he may pass away, though he did a remarkable job fighting Parkinson't disease and other illnesses that faced him. I wish him best.
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09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 | | 1 Apr 2005, 16:18 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death | spiral | | I'm not religious, but I admire the work the Pope has done even if I don't agree with some of the stances the Vatican takes. I believe that recovery is impossible, so its just a matter of time. He's lived a full and fulfilling life, so it's just his time to pass away, nothing extremely sorrowful about it. | | 2 Apr 2005, 00:22 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death | VutonTheta | | I agree entirely | | 2 Apr 2005, 07:05 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death [Updated] | Morgan | | They are reporting that he has died. It is said that they will call out his Christian name 3 times and if he does not answer they will verify his death. | | 2 Apr 2005, 12:10 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death [Updated] | bcherry | | This is what I have heard as well. He was a very good Pope, and I guess now we get to see who replaces him. | | 2 Apr 2005, 12:27 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death [Updated] | JcCorp | | Yep. Heard it too. | | 2 Apr 2005, 12:30 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death [Updated] | Jayhawk | | It is an ancient tradition of the church to verify a pope's death by striking his forehead with a silver hammer and calling out his name three times. If he does not answer, then his death is verified. When this happens, the hammer is then used to smash the pope's ring which has the papal seal. This is done to prevent forgeries. | | 2 Apr 2005, 12:47 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Near Death [Updated] | VutonTheta | | yes, that's what it said on Yahoo! | | 3 Apr 2005, 09:36 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Passes Away [Updated] | JcCorp | | Another achievement he made was pardoning Galileo for his former crimes... which is not bad, but hard to believe that the church never bothered to do that for such a long time... | | 2 Apr 2005, 12:46 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Passes Away [Updated] | Jayhawk | | I'm thankful that everyone replying here seems to understand what Pope John Paul II believed in and what he did.
It's really amazing the amount of respect he got. I lived in Saint Louis in 1999 when the Pope visited. Many times, various presidents have visited. I don't remember any time that a president got the respect that this Pope did. I recall just about every TV station interrupting the usual programming to show Shepherd One landing at Lambert Field. After that, over 20,000 young people packed Savvis Center to listen to his message. The next morning, he presided over a mass at the Edward Jones Dome at which over 100,000 people attended. The Pope then led a prayer service, which a Jewish rabbi also participated in (a historic event), at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. After this, TV cameras followed the Pope on his trip back to Lambert Field and watched as Shepherd One departed for Vatican City. All of these events were covered on live TV, and many were covered by all of the local channels. I can't think of any time that any person has received this kind of attention for visiting the city.
For those who don't know, in addition to being a religious leader, the Pope is also a head of state. The United States actually has diplomatic ties with the Vatican, which Pope John Paul II restored. In addition, this Pope restored diplomatic ties with Great Britain and established diplomacy with Israel. Also, Pope John Paul II established relations with many religions, even those not considered Christian. The Pope apologized for many mistakes of the Catholic Church in the past. Pope John Paul II traveled to more nations than any other pope and reached out to many diverse groups of people.
Many people portray Pope John Paul II as a divisive person for his refusal to compromise on many issues. In an era when politicans are willing to compromise their core beliefs in search of money and power, it is refreshing to encounter a world leader who rejects these and sticks to his beliefs. How many of us would like this quality in a politician? I expect most of us would. Pope John Paul II wasn't concerned with public opinion, power, or wealth and did not compromise his conservative beliefs. Many criticize him for this, but I greatly respect him for it. In light of his efforts to restore diplomacy, apologize to other religions, and reach out to people in all parts of the world, it's hard to view Pope John Paul II as a divisive person.
In addition, the Pope criticized leaders for unnecessarily using military force. He criticized many wars, including the recent invasion of Iraq. The Pope was actively involved in averting war with Iraq in 1998 and sent envoys to Iraq to attempt to prevent the invasion. Pope John Paul II worked to encourage diplomacy and peace as a means of solving disputes instead of fighting on the battlefield. He promoted human rights and human dignity for all people. The Pope supported life in all cases by opposing genocide, war, unjust use of the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia. He became a symbol for overthrowing the communist powers from Eastern Europe. Pope John Paul II encouraged the people of Poland to "be not afraid" and to stand up for human rights, human dignity, and freedom against the communist leaders. The people of Eastern Europe took power from the communist regimes that dominated the time in a series of mostly peaceful revolutions. Many people believe that without the efforts of Pope John Paul II that the end to communism would have been a much greater struggle and would've resulted in much more suffering.
It's hard to think of any world leader that has done as much to promote peace and human rights as Pope John Paul II has. I sincerely hope this is how people will remember this Pope. | | 3 Apr 2005, 15:46 GMT |
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| | | Re: Pope John Paul II Passes Away [Updated] | Morgan | | >> I'm thankful that everyone replying here seems to understand what Pope John Paul II believed in and what he did.
AS AM I. Someone posted a tob bit about it at ti-news.net as well as a litle animation mocking his death. I said it was inappropriate, and got chewed out... | | 4 Apr 2005, 10:13 GMT |
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