Yeah, Gary, the outpouring is getting ugly, to the point of "fake" here in the US, with our news anchors wearing black and acting sad. But I just finished a good TIME article (worshipful retrospective) that exposes the guy's life for what it was. He was, for lack of a better phrase, a friend of God - always and consistently with the same message, plowing on through hardship most of the way. People want to be near that kind of guy, hence the massive number of pilgrims descending on Rome and the rush to sainthood by his princes. It somehow makes them feel holy to be near a person they viewed as holy - even called Holy.

I watched with fascination in 2000 when he went to Israel and conveyed himself with humility and compassion - as his model would've. The guy was pretty genuine, even for a Catholic. (I once was, so I can say that.)

Yes, he was a hardliner - but consistently so.

Dave,

Cardinal George Pell, Australia'a only cardinal has been quoted in the media saying he hopes the next pope will follow in the philosophical footsteps of his predecessor.

"The Pope made Catholics feel secure, That's certainly the way that I feel and that's certainly the way that most Catholics would feel. Those who want radical change realised that they had no hope while he was in charge and I hope that with the next pope, there'll be a similar sense of security."

And yet Catholics have been exiting the Church in the past 40 years, especially under the shepherding care of Pope John Paul II.Clearly they are looking for something more than security.

There is a political aspect to this culture of life. The Christian Right (the ones concerned with same-sex marriage, abortion and extramartial sex)is entering the Liberal Party in NSW in a big way. These conservatives (The Right) are zealots as they are in the process of rooting out all those liberal parliamentarians who do not fit the conservative mould of monongamous heterosexual family morality.