<p>Whatever you think about the Vatican, the Catholic Church, or what-not, you cannot deny that Pope John Paul II is truly an extraordinary individual.</p>
<p>As a devout Catholic, the pope is in my prayers today and tonight. Pope John Paul's message has always been "Be not afraid". I pray that God will grant him the grace to not be afraid as he looks to the future, and that should God choose to call him into the kingdom of heaven, that it may be serene and painless.</p>
<p>I was watching news coverage, and he truly is a fighter. They said he survived numerous glimpses of death, such as being ran over by a Nazi truck in Poland in the 1940's, to the 1981 assasination attempts. He won't go down without putting up a good fight.</p>
<p>god bless him. he is in all of my prayers</p>
<p>The Pope crosses religious barriers. I am a Protestant-Presbyterian, yet I have tremendous respect for him. He is in my prayers.</p>
<p>I am atheist, and really I dislike all kinds of religious affiliation, I am very sorry about this event and maybe future Pope's death. He is a great man.</p>
<p>Rest in peace, Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. You will be missed, though we are happy that you finally will get to be in the presence of the one who you devoted your life to.</p>
<p>He died today at 2:37 p.m.
Check it out [url=<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050402/ap_on_re_eu/pope%5Dhere%5B/url">http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050402/ap_on_re_eu/pope]here[/url</a>]</p>
<p>What does a Pope do?</p>
<p>The Pope is the religious leader of the more than 1 billion Catholics in the world. (almost 17% of the world's population) He also crosses religious boundaries and works to unite and respect other religions (Pope John Paul II has visited mosques and synagogues). </p>
<p>RIP, you will be missed.</p>
<p>God bless you, Pope John Paul II. We will miss you and the goodness that you left in our world, but are happy to know that you are now at home with the Lord.</p>
<p>I have an honest question for Catholics (I'm not religious whatsoever):</p>
<p>Why is anyone sad that the Pope has died? Hasn't he gone to a better place, free of suffering? Hasn't God simply called him to his side? Shouldn't people actually be happy?</p>
<p>He just died.... its sad because he was such a good and courageous man. If only other leaders like Bush could follow his lead. He learned to solve things peacefully.</p>
<p>People are happy - the thousands gracefully and emotionally cheered in St. Peter's Square upon hearing of his death. He is with God now, of course they are happy.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have an honest question for Catholics (I'm not religious whatsoever):</p>
<p>Why is anyone sad that the Pope has died? Hasn't he gone to a better place, free of suffering? Hasn't God simply called him to his side? Shouldn't people actually be happy?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am not a Catholic, but I am going to try and field this one.</p>
<p>Religious or not, the Pope was an extraordinary man. He was dubbed the "Great Communicator" for all of the souls and all of the lives he managed to touch -- very few popes and in fact, I'm pretty sure NO POPE has gone to as many nations to visit the people and to bless them as Pope John Paul II.</p>
<p>We don't know who the next Pope is, and we are saddened that God has called for one of his most humble servants and a blessing to this world to join Him at His side.</p>
<p>Fair enough. I would still think people would be happy, at least for him, that he is free from the suffering he must have gone through (urinary tract infections don't sound too fun). But I can understand that the loss of him as a person would be sad. I honestly don't know a thing about the Pope.</p>