Similarities Between Pope John Paul II And Pope Francis
1048 Words5 Pages
As the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope has played an imperative role within the Roman Catholic faith for countless years. Popes are appointed by church fathers and are responsible for keeping the Church under control. Every pope’s goal involved a way to bring the world closer to his faith and Jesus. Pope John Paul II (JPII) was the reigning pope for more than 20 years. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope to ever be appointed and also the current pope. Furthermore, Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis both have similar but also contrasting visions of “being a pope” that help drive them to make decisions for the Church.
Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis have visions of solidarity. JPII believed that all humans…show more content… JPII was born in Poland and was raised during the Nazi invasion during the Holocaust. This drastic childhood is believed to link to the decisions he made later on in his life. JPII was pope during the 20th century which was, according to the Pope JPII: The Millennial Pope DVD, “the most tragic, dangerous, and evil of all mankind’s history”. It is said that evil was inside souls and hearts but JPII understood that evil was only a force that was trying negatively affect us. His vision was expressed through the Encyclical of Life, stating that it is harder to know the difference between good and evil. He used this culture of death to encourage others to seek a higher power through sharing others pain. Similarly, he views the Church within the world as very “black/world” and “white/church”. There is a huge separation between the two with almost no middle ground. Pope Francis also utilized the culture in a positive way. His main goal taking on the papacy was to “heal wounds and start from the ground up” because he saw the church as a “hospital field” (Spardaro pg 6). He wanted to bring the church closer and take in the faithful to heal any brokenness. He made it his goal to change how society has been, as did Pope…show more content… He wants all to believe and find faith. He strongly believes that the “faith defines the human being” (John Paul II). He professes, “Faith does not trump everything else. It is all there is ” (John Paul II). On the other hand, Pope Francis’ way of faith is moved by discernment. It is the foundation to the teachings of Pope Francis. He explains that discernment is “the instrument of struggle in order to know the Lord and follow him more closely” (Spadaro pg 3). He makes the discernment a prominent part of his life but also encourages his people to make it a pillar in their lives too. Pope Francis believed that the wisdom of discernment “redeems the necessary ambiguity of life and helps us find the most appropriate means, which do not always coincide with what looks great and strong” (Spadaro pg