John Paul the Great

The news of the Pope's death has shocked Catholics and non-Catholics alike; not because it was unexpected, but because John Paul has had such a tremendous impact on our lives ever since he became Pontiff in 1978.

This has been a remarkable papacy, one that will leave its mark on society and the world for a very long time indeed.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Pope John Paul was a great statesman, a great intellectual, a man of the people and a person who identified with and spoke up for the downtrodden and oppressed around the world. He was also an extremely charismatic personality.

Karol Wojtyla made history when he became the first non-Italian pope in over 450 years, a Pontiff from behind the Iron curtain, Poland.

His influence has been remarkable. He visited 130 countries. He played a huge role in bringing about the collapse of communism and the re-introduction of democracy in eastern Europe. He issued over 50 major documents dealing with various social, political and economic issues.

He promoted dialogue with other religions, especially Islam and Judaism, and increased co-operation with other non-Catholic churches. He took the Gospel to every corner of the world, canonised over 470 people, and has repeated his central theme over and over again: the respect for the dignity of life must be placed at the centre of human progress.

I will never forget a truly beautiful - and emotional - scene that I witnessed on television in 1991: the Red Army choir singing the Ave Maria for the Pope at the Vatican. Who would ever have dreamt that we would see Soviet soldiers singing for the Pope, and singing the Ave Maria?

The performance took place a few months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, which the Pope played a major role in, along with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

The Pope had in fact built up a good relationship with Mr Gorbachev, who had visited the Pope at the Vatican, also a great achievement.

The Pope always said that communism had no place in Europe, that the division of Europe at Yalta was a historical absurdity and that Europe had common Christian values.

He often referred to the "Common European House" which should unite all Europeans. Hence his insistence that Christianity should have been mentioned in Europe's Constitution.

The Pope has clearly been the most political Pontiff of modern times and was the catalyst for revolutions in Eastern Europe, starting with his native Poland.

His first visit to his country as Pope in 1979 resulted in the creation of the Solidarity trade union and we all know what followed next: the demise of communism in the Soviet bloc.

It was not surprising, therefore, that the attempted assassination of the Pope in May 1981 has been largely blamed on the Bulgarian secret police and the KGB - the Soviet bloc knew that he represented a huge threat to them.

Perhaps one of the most moving scenes of John Paul's papacy was when he visited this Turkish gunman, Mohammed Ali Agca, who had tried to kill him- and immediately forgave him during his visit to his prison cell in Rome.

The Pope not only took an interest in European affairs. He was the first Pontiff to visit a Jewish synagogue (in Rome in 1986), to visit Communist Cuba (1998), and to pray at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem (2001).

He continuously encouraged inter-faith dialogue and spoken out against war. He often spoke in favour of the world's poor and debt relief, and demanded a better deal from the rich countries for the developing world.

The Pontiff also spoke out against injustices in Latin America and during his last visit to El Salvador he prayed at the grave of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was murdered by a right-wing gunman while he celebrated Mass in San Salvador.

Pope John Paul has also apologised for the Church's historical errors, such as its role in the Inquisition and Christian persecution of the Jews.

On the basic teachings of the Church and on its social doctrine, the Pope maintained a rigid, uncompromising position, often earning himself criticism.

He remained opposed to divorce, abortion, women priests, gay clergy, gay marriages, marriage for priests and contraception, even if support for some of these issues are often regarded as being politically correct in the western world.

On these questions the Pope was clearly a Conservative - certainly too conservative for a good number of Catholics - even if this meant being out of step with world public opinion.

For the Pope, however, principle was more important than popularity and he stuck to his beliefs, even if these were not fashionable. I have no doubt, however, that certain social teachings of the Church, which have a weak theological basis - such as its position on women priests and marriage for priests - will eventually be changed.

I am also sure that the Church will one day change its teachings on contraception. One of the criticisms of the Pope's doctrine on contraception was that it contributed to the spread of Aids in the Third World, and such criticism is certainly valid.

On things like workers' rights, a better distribution of the world's wealth, a fairer system of capitalism and the dignity of the individual, the Pope was very progressive, some would even say left-wing.

One of the characteristics of this papacy has been its emphasis on social justice and the Pope took this message with him to all the corners of the globe.

The Pope also had his disappointments over the years. He never managed to visit Russia and China. The authority of the Vatican is yet to be recognised in China.

He had to deal with the scandal of the sexual abuse of children by some members of the clergy in various countries - some critics say he did too little too late and unity with other churches, such as the Orthodox and Anglican Church, is still very far off.

Abortion is still legal in many parts of the world, especially in Christian countries, and war and poverty still plague our planet.

There is no doubt that the Pope left his mark on the papacy and the world. He has appointed most of the Church's bishops and 95 per cent of its Cardinals, and he has also centralised power in the Vatican, which has sometimes been criticised.

The world's one billion Catholics may not agree with all the Pope's views, but he has been an inspiration to us all, Catholic and non-Catholic.

He bore his illness with great dignity over the years and offered his suffering for Christ. He truly deserves the title John Paul the Great.