Editorial: Conservative Pope created a revolution

Opinion

John Paul II will be remembered as a conservative and uncompromising Pope who, nonetheless, revolutionised that office. The man who could resist social changes sweeping the world was the same individual who saw the opportunity presented by modern travel. He took his mission out of the Vatican and around the globe like no Pope before him in the 2000-year history of the Catholic Church. Illness severely curtailed his travels in his eighth decade, but by then he had become, arguably, the world's most recognised person. His personal gifts had been used to woo and win over diverse communities. The Church's profile soared even as the moral certainties John Paul preached were increasingly questioned by many of its one billion members.

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was a Polish outsider when he unexpectedly became Pope John Paul II in 1978. No non-Italian had been elected Pope in 456 years but the chances of the Italian favourites were wrecked by factional rivalry. His papacy owed much to his Polish roots. He was born in 1920 into a society stained by an anti-Semitism that gained virulent expression during the German occupation of World War II. After working as a forced labourer for the occupiers, he was ordained as a priest in 1946. He became Archbishop of Krakow and, in 1967, was created cardinal. His time as a priest in Poland paralleled that of harsh communist rule. A steadfast opposition to communism and ceaseless work towards Christian reconciliation with the Jews were to be hallmarks of his papacy.

His determination to stamp a conservative authority on the Church may be traced to a stern upbringing. His father was a retired Army lieutenant, his mother a former schoolteacher who died when he was 6. He was widely regarded as a grumpy disciplinarian when he first moved to the Vatican at the age of 58, becoming the youngest Pope of the 20th century. Early in his papacy, there would be adamant "nos" to abortion, contraception and homosexuality. Changes in the status of women went unrecognised, an oversight that infuriated many Catholics. The priesthood was for celibate males only, whatever the cost.

John Paul's struggle against ill-health began relatively early in his papacy when he was struck by a Turkish terrorist's bullet. In later years, surgery would follow for intestinal cancer and a hip replacement, and Parkinson's disease would deprive him of the control of facial muscles. Increasingly, he presented a trembling figure and a weak voice to the world. However, the heroism implicit in his continued devotion to office never waned - even during his courageous but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover from throat surgery. This steadfastness seemingly added to his charisma because the occasional calls for his resignation never gained traction. Instead, there was wonder at a figure who in the new millennium, aged 80, was able to attract two million young people from 160 countries to a papal Mass in Rome. Some at this "Catholic Woodstock" seemed unfazed that they no longer adhered to all the Church's teachings, especially those on sexual morality.

Conservatives and liberals had reason for grievance in the latter years of John Paul's papacy. Conservatives frowned as he indulged in historic repair work, most notably by asking forgiveness for a millennium of Catholicism's sins, including mistreatment of Jews and the excesses of the Crusades. If the gesture was essentially futile, it was also the first time a leader of the Catholic Church had sought such a sweeping pardon.

Liberals looked askance as the Church reacted too slowly to the scandal of paedophile priests. At first, revelations were brushed aside as attempts to discredit the Church or as part of a campaign against celibacy. Only belatedly did the Pope condemn "the most grievous form" of evil. By then, public confidence in the Church had been shaken, especially in the United States.

Pope John Paul was intent on stamping his conservative authority on the world. In an age of religious and moral change he stood for the belief that some principles of life and faith are timeless.