On his late Holiness, Pope St. John Paul the Great

Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations. The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning. There were those who ruled in their kingdoms, and were men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and proclaiming prophecies; leaders of the people in their deliberations and in understanding of learning for the people, wise in their words of instruction; those who composed musical tunes, and set forth verses in writing; rich men furnished with resources, living peaceably in their habitations -- all these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of their times. There are some of them who have left a name, so that men declare their praise. And there are some who have no memorial, who have perished as though they had not lived; they have become as though they had not been born, and so have their children after them. But these were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten... Their posterity will continue for ever, and their glory will not be blotted out. Their bodies were buried in peace, and their name lives to all generations.

--Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 44:1-10, 13-14 (RSV)

I had thought to write a eulogy for his late Holiness, but as usual, the Scriptures do it far better than we ever could.

In terms of his part (an important one) in the fall of the Soviet Empire, his late Holiness deserves great praise and fame. But for his reforms of the Code of Canon Law, his authorization of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, his encyclicals giving the foundation for a true Christian humanism, his philosophical synthesis of the philosophia perennis and modern phenomenology, and finally, his bringing into the present the teachings of Scripture, Tradition, and the Fathers, Pope St. John Paul deserves the title, Great, in company with Pope SS. Leo and Gregory. May his memory be eternal, and may light perpetual shine upon him.