My family keeps a photograph of my mother and the Pope. She got to shake his hand on a visit to Rome in 1997, and she's got him good, a two-handed clutch. The Holy Father bears a slightly frightened look on his face, as if he's thinking of calling in the Swiss Guard to have this crazy New York woman escorted from the Vatican.
There are similar pictures in living rooms, on desks and even on nightstands throughout the world. This was the most traveled, most exposed, most personal pope the world has ever seen. John Paul II has been the pilgrim pope, the peripatetic pope, the photo pope, the page-one pope.
In 1978 I wrote a story for the St. Petersburg Times about the death of the previous pope, John Paul I, a charming man with a refreshing sense of humor, whose reign lasted about 33 days. That was near the beginning of my journalism career, and here I am 27 years later, and the Polish pontiff who succeeded the short-timer has just left us.
As he enters the final passage of his remarkable life and career, I find myself with a set of questions for my brothers and sisters in journalism as they plan their coverage of his last days and legacy.
1. Not only was the sudden death of John Paul I a shock to the Church, but so was the unforeseen election of the first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years. The election of Karol J. Wojtyla, a Polish prelate, continues to have many implications, moral, cultural and geo-political. In your coverage, ask: What is the legacy of this non-Italian pope, and what does it portend for the future of the Roman Catholic Church, which now has more than a billion followers?
2. In 1981, a Turkish national named Mehmet Ali Agca tried to assassinate the pope, shooting him in St. Peter's Square. John Paul II survived this attempt and later was pictured meeting with Ali Agca in prison, an act of reconciliation and forgiveness. How did the pope's survival -– and his public act of forgiveness -- contribute to his image and moral leadership?
3. Not all leaders of the Church are intellectuals. But this one was an actor, scholar, philosopher, poet, theologian, and author. According to the Web site Catholic Online, John Paul II wrote 14 encyclicals (letters to the faithful on matters of faith and morals) and three books, the most famous of which is "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," published in 1995. What can we learn about the man from his written work, and what influence will his writings have after his death?
4. The pope's early biography is quite remarkable. Born in Poland in 1920, not far from Cracow -- and not far from Auschwitz -- he survived the Nazi occupation of his country and studied for the priesthood in what has been described as a "clandestine seminary." Of course, one form of totalitarianism soon replaced another: the hegemony of the Soviet Empire. What role did this Polish pope play in the development of the Solidarity movement and the eventual liberation of Eastern Europe from Soviet domination?
5. Catholics of a certain age remember the revolutionary changes brought about in the early 1960s under the leadership of Pope John XXIII through the vehicle of the Second Vatican Council. Cardinal Wojtyla took part in that council. Those who lived through those days probably imagined that by the year 2005 reforms might include the re-unification of Christian faiths or progress on married priests or the ordination of women. What happened? Is this pontiff conservative or progressive? To what extent has he fulfilled the promise of Vatican II? To what extent has he slowed or reversed the rate of change?
6. Catholic authors and historians, such as James Carroll, argue that the legacy of this pope is "ambivalent" when it comes to ecumenism, the building of bridges with other faiths. Of special concern is the relationship between Christians and Jews. In 1979, the Pope prayed at Auschwitz for the victims of the death camps. In the year 2000, he would visit Jerusalem. As Carroll writes: "For the pope to stand in devotion before that remnant of the Temple, for him to offer a prayer that did not invoke the named of Jesus, for him to leave a sorrowful kvitel, a written prayer, in a crevice of the wall, in Jewish custom, was the single most momentous act of his papacy." But others argue that his constant re-affirmation of the traditional medieval authority of the papacy has set up obstacles for better relationships with other faiths. What do leaders and persons of other faiths say about the legacy of this pope?
7. This pope, in the words of the great Ricky Nelson, was a "travelin' man ... made a lot of stops all over the world." In fact, he traveled more miles and to more countries and spoke to more Catholics than all of his predecessors combined. One count has John Paul II making 95 official visits outside of Italy, and another 142 within the Italian peninsula. For journalists, it is much more likely than in previous papacies to find people who have had direct experiences of meeting, seeing or hearing the pope. What effect did these direct experiences have on Catholics and non-Catholics alike?
8. Was the Pope conservative or liberal? The reflexive answer might be "conservative," especially if the context is sexual morality. Many American Catholics, including some priests, nuns and theologians, differ with the pope on issues related to sexuality. This includes abortion. On many other issues, such as capital punishment or poverty, the Pope looks progressive in an American context. So how are these tensions experienced in communities of faith, and what do they portend for the future of the Church?
9. No event has been more traumatic in the history of American Catholicism than the controversy surrounding the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy, and the cover-up of those crimes by members of the hierarchy. As these abuses were revealed over the last two decades, many Catholics abandoned their faith, or came to question the wisdom and competence of the entire clergy. It is a legitimate question for journalists to ask: What role did this pope play in solving or failing to solve this collective crisis of faith?
10. Just as an American president influences the future of law and policy by appointing federal judges, so the pope shapes the future by appointing cardinals and bishops. Given his long reign, one of the longest in history, this pope has appointed the great majority of the "princes of the Church." Who are these men? What will be the long-term legacy of those appointments? Who will emerge as the next "Vicar of Christ"? Why won't the next pope be an American? Who is the man living closest to you who owes his appointment to John Paul II?
11. Part of the appeal of the younger John Paul was his physical vigor. You could see in the face and body of the pontiff, the image of the downhill skier, the young man who had worked in a quarry, the stage presence of a former actor. An assassination attempt and a succession of illnesses left us with a pope who looked frailer and frailer. Yet he pressed on with his travel, with his appearances before pilgrims, with his global ministry. What lessons about end-of-life issues –- especially in the context of the Terri Schiavo case – will be drawn from this pope's strength and suffering?
As you seek to answer these questions, please consult these online resources that have been ably assembled and brought up to date by Poynter's Library Director, David Shedden, and Poynter's Broadcast and Online Group Leader, Al Tompkins.
