Lafayette Journal and Courier

Pontiff left legacy of peace, local scholars say
By Tanya Brown, tbrown@journalandcourier.com

4/3/2005

When Ernest Mills thinks about the late Pope John Paul II, the importance of relationships comes to mind.

Mills, president of St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, has studied the pope and his career extensively.

The legacy of John Paul, in the words of Mills and other academics, is one of a man who has reached out, in a down-to-earth way, to the United States, a country sometimes torn between faith and individual rights.

"I think that the pope reminds us that our lives are often times defined by relationships," Mills said. "We are not islands. Individualism doesn't mean that I am unrestrained or unrestricted in everything I do."

And the pope drove home that point in a way that many other popes did not, as he pushed continually for peace around the world. America's relationship with the twin Germanys during the time of the Berlin Wall is another example of the pontiff's fight to unite, Mitchell said.

"The pope went over the Wall and helped people," Mills said. "He asked us to build bridges unto these people, and understand their lives and their issues. He is saying that relationships are important and we have to reach out."

Donald Mitchell, a Purdue University professor of philosophy and religious studies, said Pope John Paul's outreach extended not only to nations, but also to people of differing faiths.

"He has done a lot of work to reconcile the Catholic church with other Eastern Orthodox churches," said Mitchell, who has taught at Purdue for more than 33 years. "He invited an Orthodox patriarch to the Vatican for the first time. He gave back relics of two famous saints to the Orthodox church in Russia."

And when the pope held a day of prayer for peace in 1986, he and most of the major religious leaders of the world came together in a historic event.

"After 9/11, he had all the major Muslim figures come together," Mitchell said, "to make that emphasis that Christians and Muslims should work together."

The Rev. Tim McFarland, associate professor of religion and associate vice president of academic affairs at St. Joseph's, said Pope John Paul worked to unite American Catholicism and European Catholicism by blending political styles and facing issues head-on.

Part of the pope's ability to reach out to America has come through his numerous travels, he said.

"He's made several trips to this country, whereas prior popes did not travel as much," McFarland said. "People have seen him in this country, and they will remember him."
The pope's numerous writings, including apostolic writings and encyclicals, which are the most authoritative statements issued by the church outside of those that come from Vatican counsels, have addressed everything from the quality and sanctity of life, to the need for unity, peace and charity.

"He has issued more encyclicals, perhaps, than any pope in history," McFarland said. "He has picked up on a lot of issues that we face in this country and the world and addressed those in his writings."

In the United States, the pope drew criticism from some Catholics for his conservative views.

"I don't think he has been as liberal as a lot of Americans would have wished, but he holds together the global church," McFarland said. "If he goes too far to the left, he loses people in other parts of the world."

To try to reach Americans, the pope made a special effort to connect with young people, Mitchell said, by attending youth conferences and talking with young Catholics.

Mitchell attended the pope's rally in Grant Park in Chicago in October 1979, when more than a million people turned out to see the pontiff.

"You felt like he was more like a pastor who had come here to really care for and listen to the church in America that maybe had been a bit ignored in the past," he said.

"The popes have often seemed very distant in the past," said Mitchell. "This is the first one who seemed very down to earth, and we Americans like that kind of thing."