Reflections on John Paul II: 'yes and yet'

Catholic New Times, April 24, 2005 by Michael H. Crosby

Given the emotional outpouring elicited by his death, few can be objective about Pope John Paul II's life and legacy.

Especially regarding his legacy, I find a "yes" and a "yet," best encapsulated in the title of one of his books: it was a "sign of contradiction."

During his life, I was edified at how he touched so many young people. It may have come from his principled convictions that spoke to their search for meaning. It may also have arisen from his evident commitment to Jesus Christ. In his later years, I liked his struggle to keep going as his body failed him (even though I would have been more impressed had he not clung to the power of the papacy and, instead, simply resigned). I thought God was telling him in his very ailments he should abdicate; yet he said he was waiting for some other divine sign.

Above all, the one thing from his life that moved me most was when he visited his would-be assassin; to this day I carry the Time magazine that covered that encounter and quote from its accompanying essay: "Why Forgive?" Indeed, here his life offered to nations a model that few have yet to emulate.

I admired how he promoted the image of the institutional Roman Church as a force speaking about universal human rights, respect for religious differences, and the promotion of life in a culture of violence and death. I agreed with his principled stance on the Gulf War and the Iraqi War, the nuanced way he accepted capitalism while pointing to its "savage" side, his link of secular atheism with consumerism, and his successful effort to move many Catholics in my country to a different position on the death penalty. I liked his unqualified support of "solidarity" in Poland, yet don't know why he oversaw the undermining of liberation theology, bishops and catechetical efforts in Latin America.

But since I believe the main role of the successor of Peter is not to be a public persona as much as one mandated to "feed the sheep," I find it sad that his legacy will involve so many contradictions in this area. Here, I believe he missed a golden opportunity to truly lead the church into the 21st century in ways that might have sparked the deep desires of thinking people rather than the restorationistic hopes of those longing for a return of the triumphal church locked into hierarchical patterns more reflective of Constantine than the Spirit's charisms.

In terms of systematic theology, I often share his Wednesday series of talks that showed heaven and hell are not places but states, yet wonder, given the myth of Adam and Eve, why he failed to probe new approaches around redemption and salvation.

From the perspective of history, it pleased me when he apologized for the sins of "certain sons of the church" (from the Crusades to Galileo); but am saddened that he did not acknowledge that these "sins of the sons" were usually perpetrated by the hierarchy. In these cases, as well as regarding what has been called the greatest crisis in the modern Catholic Church--the pedophilia scandals by priests and the even greater cover-ups by so many bishops--he wouldn't or couldn't admit why they occurred: because of the abuse of power by the celibate, controlling, clerical caste. A final proof of this inability came with Cardinal Law's promotion from a retreat house to oversee St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome.

While the pope insisted on objective "truth" and believed deeply that it would set people free, his approach to "the truth" often created deep divisions around issues related to gender, sexual orientation and biology itself.

Just regarding gender, since his death I find it sadly revealing that few female Catholic theologians or women religious from the mainline congregations have praised his legacy. With many of them, I feel his theology of women's "complementarity" with men is contradictory. It ultimately flowed from a patriarchal bias that has left many women feeling structurally and spiritually excluded as equals in a church institution to which many have devoted their lives.

Michael Crosby, OFMCap. is the author of several books on church reform: The Dysfunctional Church, Rethinking Celibacy, Reclaiming the Church and Can Religious Life Be Prophetic?