A Look Back on Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul will go down as one of the greatest and most influential Popes ever. His life has transcended the Catholic Religion and has made the man one of the giants of the 20th century. Religious leader and people of all faiths have paused today to stop and what what looks like the final hours and days to honor the Pope who’s next stop is to be with God and then Sainthood.

Pope John Paul II’s greatest accomplishment was his tireless efforts in to ending Communism.

“We know what the pope has achieved. Fifty percent of the collapse of communism is his doing,” Walesa told The Associated Press on Friday. “More than one year after he spoke these words, we were able to organize 10 million people for strikes, protests and negotiations.

“For many Poles, it was the fact that one of their own made it in the West, which was closed at the time for Poland, made it to the top of the Catholic Church and played a political and moral role as one of the leaders in the world,” said Rahr. “That mattered. It mattered politically; it mattered as a moral matter.”

The following is a time line of the life and times of Pope John Paul II

Video from Jackson’s Junction

Hugh Hewitt has a great array of information

Don Singleton has some great pictures of the Pope.

A beacon of hope and inspiration

How a boy from small town Poland grew up to become pope