Pope John Paul II is perhaps the most known and visible man alive today. And as George Weigel, papal biographer, has argued, he is perhaps the most misunderstood. He is painted as a "liberal" on economics while being "conservative" on personal morality. By extreme detractors he is labeled a misogynist and puritan, as rigid and authoritarian, as a throw-back to medieval Catholicism, and the litany goes on and on. Both the political descriptions and the extremely negative criticisms show an extreme lack of understanding of the man John Paul is. In truth John Paul has given Catholics, non-Catholics, and non-Christians an example of heroism and holiness while at the same time offering a profound body of thought which offers a solution to the crises of secular humanism. Both his personal example and teaching legacy have been an effort to answer the question of how one must live and how society should order itself.
It is to John Paul II's teaching legacy that I would like to address this column. This teaching legacy has offered a real alternative to the various humanistic philosophies of this century. Contrary to reports which paint John Paul as a scold who has an extremely low view of man, John Paul has worked his whole life both as a philosopher and as Pope to offer a lofty view of man. The major problem he found in the various humanisms of this century was that they were based on false anthropology; they failed to describe the human person correctly. Painting man solely in economic or political terms, describing man's freedom as a radical autonomy of the person from any sort of duty or constraint, these systems missed the core truths of the human person. In the place of these theories, John Paul has offered a multi-layered proposal. First, as Weigel writes, John Paul has argued that in "the very structure of the human being-in-the-world" is a "Law of the Gift" which suggests that "self-giving, not self-assertion, is the royal road to human flourishing." This has numerous implications for both public and private life. For economic life it suggests something much different from the "turbo-Capitalism" of modern society. For relationships it means something far grander than self-taking and self-gratification. Man truly finds himself then in his gift of self to the Truth. Thus true freedom is not found in license and the exponential growth of rights which leads to freedom's self-immolation, but rather in a freedom lived in accordance to moral truth. Public life must also be governed and permeated by such principles. Finally, these principles lead to an understanding of the ordering of societies much different from that commonly held. Culture gains a priority over economic and political life. Needless to say economics and politics are important but far more important is culture. In his own homeland this understanding had historical implications. Poland was made of Poles with a certain rich cultural history. The political and economic regime was simply that, a regime imposed upon the country. Poles were greater, deeper, and richer than the political and economic reality that was the Polish satellite state. For those of us living in a land which one could argue suffers from another fearful materialism, this understanding might have a certain resonance as well.
A final note must be written on what John Paul has attempted to teach. George Weigel writes, that according to modern notions the Pope's belief that Christ is the truth for the world "ought to have made him an impossibly narrow, even dangerous, sectarian." Instead John Paul has taught that being a Catholic Christian who is totally convinced of Catholicism's truth does not lead to necessary strife but rather to necessary respect. Speaking to the U.N. in 1995, he said, "As a Christian, my hope and trust are centered on Jesus ChristJesus Christ is for us God made man, and made part of the history of humanity. Precisely for this reason, Christian hope for the world and its future extends to every human personFaith in Christ does not impel us to intolerance. On the contrary, it obliges us to engage in a respectful dialogue." It is a message he has also lived, reaching out in dialogue to Christians, Jews, and other religious groups. To a world still divided by religious and ethnic strife it is much needed message offering a genuine alternative to dangerous sectarianism. Ultimately it is a message that should be heeded and lived by those who are committed Christians.
The brief glimpse of John Paul's legacy I have attempted to offer here is a picture easily glossed over by media sound-bytes which describe John Paul as traditional or conservative. When studied more closely this legacy might lead more to be thankful for the witness and teaching of John Paul II and to realize the boldness of his proposals.
