I'm sure JP2 was a nice person. I never met him though I did visit the Vatican back in 1990. I was amazed and impressed at the wealth of the Vatican. I remember another tourist commenting that the Vatican has the greatest collection of stolen treasures in the world. I couldn't argue with him. Jesus would be mighty impressed with the horde and mighty depressed at how it was acquired. It's kind of ironic that you'll find the church presence in many of the poorest areas of the world yet the Vatican is so rich. Maybe it's the religious version of Trickle-down theory.

JP2 did bring the Church screaming and kicking in to the 14th century. He apologized for the Church's behavior towards the Jews but he never quite loudly apologized for the Church's behavior towards child abuse. He was righteously disgusted at 9/11 and correctly disgusted at the Invasion of Iraq. He visited nearly every country in the world, including a visit to the Wailing Wall. I remember seeing him in downtown Los Angeles way back when, cruising by in his bulletproof Pope-mobile. The streets were somewhat empty so I gave him a friendly wave and - dang! - he waved back. We shared a moment and I appreciated him for that.

I'm amazed at the reactions to his death. As neither Judaism nor Islam have a single figurehead, neither group enjoys the periodic mourning fervor at a passing. At least, nothing on the Pope's level. But how much of the coverage was due to the celebrity mentality of the Media and how much was due to a religious bias in the Media? One channel had a reporter go on and on about how the Pope lived correctly to the teachings of Jesus Christ and he went on - Christ this and Christ that. Amazing thing was, it wasn't Fox.

I was amazed at how many reporters made the death seem so fantastic - "Going into God's arms", "greeted by Jesus Christ", etc. Folks, when John Paul 2 died, angels did not descend from the sky and sweep him up. Jesus Christ didn't appear over Rome. Ethereal trumpets didn't blare. He died - that's it. And he'll be buried with many other dead Popes under St. Peters - that's it. He won't be coming back on a white horse. There won't be a giant teardrop from God.

It looks like the Federal buildings have their flags at half-mast. So much for any illusion of separation of church and state - it's gone. The Pope proves even in death that religion and politics are inseparable at that scale.