MEDIA STATEMENT
A messenger of peace and justice
We recall his legacy in promoting inter-religious dialogue, in building bridges instead of walls. His greatness was also due to his ability to be inclusive and to reach out to "the other" outside his fold even though he was responsible for leading the Catholic faithful. He opposed the use of force and violence and, despite efforts by world leaders to seek his support for the invasion of Iraq, he stood firm in opposing a military solution. Similarly, he opposed the attack on Serbia even when there was a consensus among the United States and the European powers that it was timely to do so. John Paul upheld the rights of Palestinians to self-determination but also recognised the state of Israel. When he toured the Holy Land, apart from praying at sacred sites, he visited the Palestinian refugee camp at Dahisha, putting the spotlight on some 3.5 million Palestinian refugees made homeless by the formation of the state of Israel. At Yad Vashem, Israel's main Holocaust memorial, he paid tribute to the six million Jews killed by the Nazis from 1938-45. More recently, however, he criticised Israel's plan to build a massive wall, which now threatens to suffocate the occupied territories and make a Palestinian state unviable. Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. If you prefer to read our web-based edition, please support our work and make a donation. Speaking in defence of the poor and upholding the dignity of the human person, made in the image of God, the Pope also emphasised the "primacy of man over work" and "the primacy of labour over capital" in two social encyclicals. He not only spoke out against the atheism and authoritarianism prevalent in communism but also criticised the excesses of capitalism. He was sharply critical of the immorality of neo-liberal globalisation, and how it has impoverished entire communties in both developed and developing nations, robbing people of their dignity and enslaving them to consumerism and materialism. Others, however, have remarked about the pontiff's conservative theology, which reversed some of the church reforms heralded by Vatican II in the early 1960s and centralised authority in Rome. Dissenting views and debates, which could have contributed towards the vitality of the church, were suppressed. In this hour of loss, however, we wish instead to honour his wider contribution towards a more just and peaceful world. In particular, he exemplified a servanthood and moral model of leadership so lacking in our world today and so starkly at odds with the airs and pomp surrounding world leaders and prominent personalities today. People who have met John Paul - VIPs and ordinary folk alike - have related how struck they were by his simplicity, humility and compassion. These, along with his examples of forgiveness and reconciliation and his concern for justice and peace, hold many lessons for us today. Aliran Executive Committee 5 April 2005
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