My wife and I are both baptized Catholics. She is still a believer in that faith and I'm an agnostic. So the death of Pope John Paul II has had the strange effect on me of not quite knowing how I feel about it - or him for that matter.

In an increasingly secular world Christianity seems to be increasingly marginalized and Catholicism seems to be marginalized even further within the world of Christianity
because of the greater influence of Protestantism. So it's hard to put into perspective the full scope of this loss.

For my wife and for many Christians there is the sense of loss of a great spiritual leader. I also sense the loss of a significant historical figure.

That Pope John Paul II was so beloved by so many people is beyond dispute but because of his conservative policies he was not beyond controversy. In truth, it's hard to imagine how it could be different - can Catholicism move away from it's core beliefs and remain Catholicism?

As is often the case, illumination sometimes comes from the conjunction of several events that reinforce a common theme that runs through both. Such I believe is the influence that the Terry Shivo case had on me. For me (and for many), her doctor's testimony that she was suffering from the permanent loss of all neocortal functions was enough to convince me that removing her feeding tube was the right decision. I couldn't understand why so many were fighting so loudly and vociferously to preserve her 'right' to remain in a persistent vegetative state.

But after really listening to those who were in opposition to letting her die I found that I couldn't blame them for their opinion or even feel that they were wrong. They are opposed to what they feel is the 'culture of death' that they also feel is so pervasive in our society today.

Whether they are right or wrong is a matter for dispute but it occurs to me that there will never be a system of beliefs or ethics that is so ironclad that it will forever be completely full proof in every decision like this that needs to be made. All we can hope for is a 'spirit of humanity' that forms the 'climate' from which we must evaluate and make such decisions and hope that we are doing the right thing. Contrast that to the 'Spirit of Inhumanity' that informed the Nazi's decisions regarding the taking of human life.

Many will disagree with specific religious beliefs and secular ethics. Many will also take exception to Pope John Paul II's conservative Catholicism but I do believe that he was very forcefully a champion of that 'Spirit of Humanity' and that is why his appeal spread to many different people of different religious and political beliefs. That is also why I do believe after all, that the world has lost not only a great spiritual leader but a life-long champion of humanity.