Carl Bernstein praising the Pope as great Geo political leader of

[saracat]

last century. He said he was one of the greats if not the greatest. The first person to mention he was an actor, as well as playwright and how he stood up to the communists. Also discussed how he had a crush on a Jewish girl and was the first Pope to attend public schools. Bernstein apparently wrote a book something about the hidden life of the Pope. He said you didn't need to agree with the Pope to appreciate his greatness as a world leader. It was very well said!

[demnan]

1. Oh please!

If I post what I'm thinking it will get deleted.

[rodeodance]

2. I have to agree with Carl. Pope Paul was a peacemaker (I do not agree

with his social stance on women in the church, abortion, ect). Give the Pope his due with respect to being a peacemaker.

[Clark2008]

4. Agreed.

I'm getting kind of tired of people on this board accusing the Pope of being evil - he's not. He's a human being with faults (like not doing enough to kick the pedophiles out of the Church), not another Jesus.
I also don't agree with his stance on reproductive rights, but that's the dogma of the Church and that's the way it is. I don't think any pope is going to change it anytime soon.
However, as a geo-political leader and peacemaker, the man was incredible.

[saracat]

3. Sorry. I disagree with the Pope on almost everything, but he was a geo

political genius. Credit given where it is due.Just like Clinton was a political genius but not a perfect man.

[dogman]

5. Maybe if the last century had been 1200 A.D.

It was such a pleasure watching the Vatican return to the Dark Ages. That's further back in time than B$$$co would like to take us.

[saracat]

6. The Pope did more for ME Peace than any other political leader

except for Clinton. He brought both sides together and plead for peace.And BOTH sides respected him. He stood for the protection of Isreal and a Palestinian State. Too bad we didn't let him negotiate.And, unlike the religious weackjobs, the pope didn't force his religion on anyone!
There was a nice story this morning about how he didn't conduct the sign of the cross or engage in any of the usual traditions when dealing with other faiths. The Rabbi being interviwed was paricularly impressed with this as he said it was deliberate to not impose on anothers beliefs. We could use more of that!

[dogman]

10. We've forgotten Jimmy Carter already?

I guess I would expect the Pope to stand up for peace, so I did not find that extraordinary. Still he did his part in calling out the death penalty. I find it unfortunate that the most conservative in the Church were allowed to have so much power. The audacity of the US Church and State organization to tie connections with the Pope and President Bush and claim credit for delivering Bush about 18% more Catholic vote than Dole or about an additional 9,000,000 votes. This in spite of Bush's stand on the death penalty and the Pope's stand that the Iraq war was unjust. I felt the Vatican waited too long to take a stand on slowing down the American Taliban, a number of whom are powerful Catholic leaders. I also felt he was being opportunistic and evangelizing with the number of saints he Canonized. I also felt turning back the progress made under Pope John XXIII was wrong. I recognize that others preferred the traditional Latin but I feel that would only make sense if people understood Latin. Since he stacked the deck that will elect the new Pope, I don't expect things to improve.

[ChiciB1]

7. As A Lapsed Catholic....

from a long time ago, I'm not AGAINST the Pope, but I always wondered how it was that they could change the structure of the Mass, as in using English instead of Latin and still say it was the only true Church!

I left when i decided I didn't want 20 kids a long time ago, and decided to use birth control!

One good thing though.... MAYBE the Schiavo fiasco will get OVER=SHADOWED now!

I mean I do think MSM might agree here! Either way, it's going to be ANOTHER long RELIGIOUS week-end. I'm more spiritually inclined, so I think I might be spending some time at the beach with my hubby & dog!!

Got to get a babysitter for my 93 old mother-in-law though. She has Alzheimer's. But maybe they spent too much time with the Shindlers and won't have time for her. I don't live far away from Pinellas Park. Actually I lived in Largo a while back, which is basically, Largo, Seminole, Clearwater, St. Pete & Pinellas Park and a few others all rolled into one.

[ZootSuitGringo]

8. The Pope did believe in "Just" wars

and supported the actions in Kosovo. Of course, we all know that he did not support Bush's Neocon War in Iraq.

He was a progressive in foreign relations, but a regressive on social issues.

He wasn't perfect by any means, but he certainly wasn't chop liver either.

[Algorem]

9. .

[adwon]

11. I disagree a bit

John Paul II did stand tall on the world stage but he couldn't have done it without a lot of help. The Pope would not have been effective if not for leaders like Thatcher, Mitterand, Kohl, and Reagan (give the devil his due, he restarted the Truman Doctrine). With the renewed determination of the West, the Pope had the proper environment to lead the fight. It was a concerted effort, not a solo effort.

That being said, my vote for the great statesmen/strategists of the 20th century were Truman, Acheson, and Marshall.