Y'know, as popes go, John Paul II was fairly good...

[ZombieNixon]

I'm not Catholic, and I certainly had my disagreements with him, especially on abortion/gay marriage, etc., but he did more for world peace than almost all world leaders in the last twenty years. He contributed more to the fall of Communism than Ronald Reagan and he was at least consistent in his pro-life position (anti-abortion, but also anti-death penalty).

He seemed to be getting more conservative with age and as his health deteriorated, so by then perhaps had less control of issues than he previously did; perhaps someone else was pulling the strings. If that was the case, it does not bode well for the next papacy. We can only hope Cardinal Ratzinger doesn't get it.

[hippiepunk]

1. The best one could hope for

[etherealtruth]

2. He admitted and apologized for...

...some of the wrong doing of the Church and was a voice for peace...
There definitely could have been worse.

[Midnight Rambler]

3. I agree

Some of his positions seem to be very conservative to many people here, but by Catholic Church standars, the man was downright revolutionary.

[_TJ_]

4. He was a truly moral man

But he was pretty conservative. I think he wanted to roll back
Vatican II