Dear Friends in Christ,

Please tell me if I am wrong in thinking like this. In my limited knowledge I feel that we should not think about who will be the next pope as long as our dear pope John Paul II is alive. Even though he is too frail to lead the Catholic Church I feel that if this was the way the Holy Spirit thought pope John Paul II would have already been taken to heaven. If we believe in the Divine Will of God who knows all that is happening in Heaven and Earth why can't we leave it until our pope is no more. Why do people and the media speculate on this? Why can't we just pray and not question ? We are not dealing with a president of a country. We are dealing with a leader whose appointment is from a Almighty God. I welcome any comments on this. God bless,

-- Ramanie Weerasinghe (lilanw@yahoo.com), February 27, 2005

Answers

I feel that we should not think about who will be the next pope as long as our dear pope John Paul II is alive.

I agree with you, Ramanie. He has been near death before, but has recovered and lived for additional years. Even if he were now at death's doorstep, we should delay any thought or talk about a successor until later. Such an action would show proper respect for this hero of our time.

Even though he is too frail to lead the Catholic Church ...

This time you are mistaken, Ramanie. He is not "too frail." Although Pope John Paul II cannot do as much as he could in the past, the media are already saying that he has made significant progress toward recovery, thanks to his tracheotomy. Even if he were declining, however, I would say that he can and does "lead the Catholic Church," for one can "lead" in ways that do not involve administrative work or travel (for example, the "leadership" by example, represented by accepting suffering in union with Jesus on the cross).

-- (Catholic@Forum.lover), February 27, 2005.