The Pope of the People
Pope John Paul II has traveled the globe many times during his reign as
pontiff. He readily joins hands and prays with those whose beliefs are so far from
Christianity, that there is absolutely no cloak that might disguise them as
Christian.
ìIn 1986 in Assisi, Italy, John Paul II joined in a circle to
pray and meditate with snake handlers from Togo, shamans
and tribal witchdoctors from West Africa, Hindu gurus from
India, Buddhist monks from Thailand, and liberal Protestant
clergymen from Great Britain, [they] all joined hands [to]
ëpray to their gods for peace.íî 20Sounding like the so-called Protestant evangelist Billy Graham:ìThe Pope also announced in Assisi that there are ëmany
paths to God.íî 21ìPope John Paul II on his 10th African tour in 2/93, told
about 75 ëcolorfully garbed voodoo worshippers [in Benin]
that they would NOT have to forsake all of their culture [nor
their voodoo faith] in order to convertí to Catholicism
(2/13/93, World). The conciliatory pope noted that even as
Africans look to their ancestors as objects of worship,
Catholics also revere ëancestors in the faith, from the
Apostles to the missionaries.í ëI have never seen God, but
today when I have seen the pope, I recognize that I have
seen the good God, who prays for all the voduns,í said Sossa
Guedehoungue, head of Benin's vodun community.î 22ìIn his visit to Senegal in 1992 where, instead of calling the
heathen African religions by their proper and accurate
name, Pope John Paul II referred to ëAfrican customsí and
urged Senegal's Roman Catholics to ëstrike the right balance
between African customs and church requirements.í But
there is no ëright balanceí between truth and error ñ they are
mutually exclusive. Yet the Pope said that the ëblending of
authentically African fruits in union with the universal
church was essential to the spread of Catholicism on the
continent.íî 23