[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 5, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING APPRECIATION FOR THE LIFE AND WORK OF POPE JOHN PAUL II

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARK E. SOUDER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2005

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I wish to express my profound sympathy for 
the passing of Pope John Paul II, a man whom I'm certain will go down 
in history as one of history's greatest leaders.
  This Pope's remarkable life--a tremendous intellect, limitless 
compassion and deep spirituality--was the foundation of his forceful 
teaching about the inherent dignity of every human being. Shaped by his 
experiences under Nazi and Communist regimes, the Pope taught us that 
this dignity is the first principle from which all others derive, 
calling on us to respond to the cry of the poor and to protect the 
weakest among us.
  Pope John Paul II taught us, by his words and example, that we should 
have the ``love of preference for the poor,'' that requires us to 
respond to the needs of the weakest among us. As he wrote in 
``Sollicitudo Rei Socialis'' in 1987, ``[T]his love of the preference 
for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but 
embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, 
those without medical care and, above all, those without hope of a 
better future.''
  Human dignity, he also reminded us, should never be eclipsed by 
oppressive political systems, which deny the individuality of the 
person. Nor should the dignity of the human person be destroyed using 
tools of what he so appropriately called the ``Culture of Death,'' such 
as legalized abortion or physician-assisted suicide.
  Pope John Paul II spoke to the world about the importance of every 
human person, and he specially addressed the responsibility of our 
nation during his visit to the United States in 1995. I am submitting 
this statement for the Record, in which the Pope so eloquently called 
on us to live up to our democratic responsibilities, reminding us that, 
``[d]emocracy stands or falls with the truths and values which it 
embodies and promotes. Democracy serves what is true and right when it 
safeguards the dignity of every human person, when it respects 
inviolable and inalienable human rights, when it makes the common good 
the end and criterion regulating all public and social life.''
  The freedom of this country can only be understood within context of 
the moral responsibilities of our democracy. As we mark the passing of 
this tremendous man, I believe we should remember his exhortation to 
the United States: ``At the center of the moral vision of your founding 
documents is the recognition of the rights of the human person, and 
especially respect for the dignity and sanctity of human life in all 
conditions and at all stages of development.''
  ``I say to you again, America, in the light of your own tradition: 
love life, cherish life, defend life, from conception to natural 
death.''
  May God grant Pope John Paul II eternal light and peace, and may his 
personal witness to faith, hope and courage remain in our hearts and 
those of all the world.

  Statement of Pope John Paul II, on the Occasion of His Visit to the 
     United Nations and the United States Given on October 8, 1995

       Dear Mr. Vice-President, Dear Friends, Dear People of 
     America,
       As I take leave of the United States, I wish to express my 
     deep and abiding gratitude to many people.
       To you, Mr. Vice-President, for graciously coming here to 
     say goodbye. To the Bishops of the Dioceses I have visited 
     and the many people, who have worked so hard to make this 
     visit a success. To the public authorities, to the police and 
     security personnel, who have ensured efficiency, good order 
     and safety.
       To the representatives of the various Churches and 
     Ecclesial Communities, who have received me with great good 
     will; to Americans of all races, colors and creeds, who have 
     followed with interest and attention the events of these 
     days; to the men and women of the communications media, who 
     have labored diligently to bring the words and images of this 
     visit to millions of people; and especially to all those who, 
     personally present or from afar, have supported me with their 
     prayers.
       I express to the Catholic community of the United States my 
     heartfelt thanks! In the words of Saint Paul: ``I give thanks 
     to my God every time I think of you--which is constantly in 
     every prayer I utter'' (Phil 1:3).
       I say this, too, to the United States of America: today, in 
     our world as it is, many other nations and peoples look to 
     you as the principal model and pattern for their own 
     advancement in democracy. But democracy needs wisdom. 
     Democracy needs virtue, if it is not to turn against 
     everything that it is meant to defend and encourage. 
     Democracy stands or falls with the truths and values which it 
     embodies and promotes. Democracy serves what is true and 
     right when it safeguards the dignity of every human person, 
     when it respects inviolable and inalienable human rights, 
     when it makes the common good the end and criterion 
     regulating all public and social life. But these values 
     themselves must have an objective content. Otherwise they 
     correspond only to the power of the majority, or the wishes 
     of the most vocal. If an attitude of skepticism were to 
     succeed in calling into question even the fundamental 
     principles of the moral law, the democratic system itself 
     would be shaken in its foundations (cf. Evangelium Vitae, 
     70).
       The United States possesses a safeguard, a great bulwark, 
     against this happening. I speak of your founding documents: 
     the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill 
     of Rights. These documents are grounded in and embody 
     unchanging principles of the natural law whose permanent 
     truth and validity can be known by reason, for it is the law 
     written by God in human hearts (cf. Rom 2:25).
       At the center of the moral vision of your founding 
     documents is the recognition of the rights of the human 
     person, and especially respect for the dignity and sanctity 
     of human life in all conditions and at all stages of 
     development. I say to you again, America, in the light of 
     your own tradition: love life, cherish life, defend life, 
     from conception to natural death.
       At the end of your National Anthem, one finds these words: 
     ``Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this 
     be our motto: `In God is our trust!' '' America: may your 
     trust always be in God and in none other. And then, ``The 
     star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of 
     the free and the home of the brave''.
       Thank you, and God bless you all!

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