EDITORIAL

"Dialogue with words not with bombs"

LETTERS TO UNCLE SAM

By Prof. Talaat I. Farag

Dear Uncle Sam,

On May 13, 1981, in front of St. Peter's Cathedral, a Turkish psychopath named Mehmet Agca tried to assassinate the leader of more than 1 billion Catholics, Pope John Paul II. He narrowly missed the pope's aorta. John Paul long had said he believed the hand of the Virgin Mary deflected Agca's bullet. Two years later, on December 27, 1983, the pope visited Mehmet in his prison cell and forgave him, becoming a hero of forgiveness.

Adnan Agca, Mehmet's brother, said that the pope had received relatives of the gunman several times over the past years, meeting his mother Muzeyyen in 1987 and Adnan himself in 1997. Adnan told the Associated Press that Mehmet was deeply saddened by the pope's illness and was believed to be mourning in a Turkish prison over the death of the pontiff. "I know that he is in mourning. I feel that he is in deep sorrow over the death of the pope, who was like a brother to him." "They had declared brotherhood when the Pope visited him in prison," Adnan Agca said of the 1983 meeting. "He was Agca's brother, would not you be sad if you had lost your brother?"

John Paul's relationship with Mehmet Agca represents the deceased pontiff's endless compassion and forgiveness for people and humanity. A champion of compassion, forgiveness, interfaith dialogue, multiculturalism, the pope's death was a historic moment for the Catholic church and Christians worldwide. The world witnessed one of the biggest funerals of the modern era. More than 3 million pilgrims convened at St. Peter's Cathedral  to bid the pope farewell, and over a billion others followed the ceremony on their television sets. 

His life, celebrated by millions worldwide, was a product of much strife and tragedy. Only an existence marred with obstacles and loss could have created a man with as much compassion and modesty as Pope John Paul II.  

Karol Wojtyla's Journey

At the tender age of 9,  Karol's mother died of kidney and congestive heart failure. Only three years after his mother's death, his brother Dr. Edmund died of scarlet fever contacted from a patient. By the age of 20, Karol was orphaned by his father's death due to heart failure. In September 1939, the German occupation closed hundreds of Polish churches. More than 5,000 priests and nuns were killed and deported to labor camps. Wojtyla's pass from University Chaplin in Krakow to the See of Rome was breathtaking: a bishop at 38, archbishop at 44, cardinal at 47, and was elected as pope at 58 on October 16, 1978. Pope John Paul II's 26 years at the Vatican, showed him as a figure of great courage, charisma and humanity. During his time as pontiff, he traveled to more than 130 countries, reaching out to other denominations and religions. He flung himself to the ground at airports to kiss the soil of each country he visited. He was the first pontiff to visit a synagogue and to enter a mosque when he went on his historic visit to the Holy land on March 20, 2000 and May 6, 2001 to Damascus. He visited St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai's desert, where Moses received the Ten Commandments and apologized on behalf of the church for aiding the slave trade, persecuting Galileo and killing Czech protestants in the 15th century. The 264th Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, became a towering face for humanity and spiritual illumination, compelling a noisy world to pay attention to his words.

Many viewed him as a Polish soldier from the era of World War II. Having fought for peace and freedom for world, he gave his soul to God, his body to Italy and his heart to Poland. Leaders across the political spectrum admired his work, even Cuban leader Fidel Castro issued a statement of praise for the pope who visited his island in 1996. Leaders of competing religions were also eager to praise the legacy of this unique pope, who met with Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu leaders as well as godless communists. He never went to Moscow, but Moscow came to him when he welcomed the former Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev in Rome on December 1, 1989.

FROM FORGIVENESS TO MULTICULTURALISM

Having spent his 26-year papacy reaching out to all nations, religions and communities of the world, and trying to heal the old wounds between the Catholic church and its antagonists, John Paul became a symbol for multiculturalism. Only John Paul II's funeral could bring together Islamic leaders side by side with Jews and Christians of all denominations. The ceremony was a testament to his monumental impact on history. When millions from all faiths waved bye to Pope John Paul II, they cast a vote for his message of forgiveness, multiculturalism and dialogue, and refusal of a clash of civilizations!

Iranian President, Israeli foreign minister and Syrian 
president rub shoulders at the pope's funeral.

Sincerely,

Prof. Talaat I. Farag, MD, FRCP(E), FACP, FACMG,
Former Adjunct Professor, Dalhousie University, Canada
Founder of The Ambassadors Research Foundation 
Email: drfarag@ambassadors.net

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