155 Death of Pope John Paul II 　050402 --- Do Catholics feel a special loss at pope's death? How about Protestants? (posted: 050516)

Q from a Japanese: “Unfortunately, Pope John Paul II passed away this Sat. I'm pretty sure his death is big and very sad news also for Americans. I'm sure Catholics mourn his death. How about Protestants? I feel Catholics respect the Pope more than Protestants. Please let me know what Catholics think and/or Protestants think upon the death of the Pope if possible. Thx. “

American A , who is a Catholic, is saying:
“Yes, I think a very large section of Catholics mourn Pope John Paul II's death. But the degree of grief varies greatly from one person to another. For example, in mass last Sunday, there was a young lady reading the items for the people to pray for. She read the usual ones and then got to Pope John Paul II and broke out into tears. There was about a 30-second pause before she could start reading again. She obviously was more upset about the pope's death than I was, but I still felt bad that the pope had died.”

American B, who is a Protestant, saying:
”I think the opinions of Protestants vary widely. Unfortunately there are still some tensions between Protestants and Catholics, so there are some people who think that the Pope is bad, etc. But that's a pretty extreme view, and rare.

I think that most Protestants at least respect the Pope, and many think he was a great man. I fall into the latter category -- I think he set a fine example for Christians worldwide, and accomplished many great things, was very humble and pious, and was an inspiring leader for the Catholic Church during turbulent times. He also patched things up with Jews and with the Eastern Orthodox Church, if I recall correctly. And he played a key role in collapsing Communism to boot...

You and A are right, though, as far as Catholics mourning his loss more than Protestants, because he was nearer and dearer to the hearts of many of them.”

American C, who is a Catholic, is saying:
”I think there might be some tensions between Protestants and Catholics but I believe it is getting rather insignificant lately. I think most Christian (and maybe others) religions are rather peaceful to one another. ”

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