[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 40 (Friday, April 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE DEATH OF POPE JOHN
                                PAUL II

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 8, 2005

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I join my 
fellow Catholics and all citizens of the world in mourning the passing 
of Pope John Paul II. Though he is no longer with us, his extraordinary 
influence and tremendous contributions to the fight against tyranny and 
oppression will live on.
  Pope John Paul II was the 263rd successor to Saint Peter, and was 
elected on October 16, 1978. He was the youngest Pope in 132 years at 
age 58. He was also the first Polish Pope and the first non-Italian 
Pope in 450 years. He was seen as active and charismatic, and could 
often be found on the ski slopes of Europe.
  Throughout his papacy, Pope John Paul II worked tirelessly on behalf 
of human rights and the dignity of all mankind. In contrast with the 
Vatican's preoccupation with Europe, he was the most traveled Pope in 
history and involved the Church in world issues.
  He visited Africa more than a dozen times, yet refused to visit South 
Africa until it had ended its apartheid system. He sought to end 
religious and ethnic violence in Sudan and Rwanda. In Latin America, 
John Paul pressured Chile's General Augusto Pinochet to hold free 
elections and helped defuse a dispute between Argentina and Peru. He 
also visited Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Philippines, 
Haiti, North America, and Scandinavia, among other destinations.
  Pope John Paul II is widely credited with helping depose Eastern 
European communism. He helped inspire the worker rebellions and the 
Solidarity movement in his native Poland soon after he was elected. 
Twenty million Poles greeted the Pope during his nine day homecoming, 
an exceptional show of discontent with the one-party dictatorship that 
ruled the country.
  He also insisted that the Catholic Church confront its past misdeeds, 
including the Inquisition in the 15th century. In 1999, he ordered the 
Vatican to issue an ``act of repentance'' for the church's failure to 
prevent Nazi genocide against Jews in World War II and acknowledged 
centuries of preaching contempt for Jews. The pope expanded upon this 
in March 2000, when he asked forgiveness for many of his church's past 
sins, including its treatment of Jews, heretics, women and native 
peoples. While John Paul believed in the infallibility of the church, 
he recognized that its servants are human and sometimes stray from the 
teachings of Jesus.
  Along with John Paul's involvement in human rights, I have been moved 
and personally strengthened by his active engagement in papal duties in 
spite of the development of Parkinson's disease. He did not shrink from 
activity or the public eye though his body began to shake and become 
unsteady. In fact, it became part of his mission: to show the world the 
value of each life, even in those who are suffering from physical pain 
and the aging process.
  The world is now coming to grips with the passing of Pope John Paul 
II. We are comforted that his teachings live on as he moves to his 
final resting place. May he rest in peace.

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