Perhaps more than any other pope
before him, John Paul extended
his office's influence beyond
Roman Catholicism, beyond
Christianity, beyond the normal
boundaries of the position.
Rabbi Mark Shrager talked at
length about the way this pope's
reach was felt well past his own
church.
"He has really spoken out
forcibly and shown by his own
actions the importance of good
relationships between the
faiths, and I think it's had a
profound impact," said Shrager,
of B'nai Abraham Synagogue in
Wilson Borough. "We're really
grateful to the pope ... We will
pray for him like everyone has."
Shrager and leaders of other
non-Catholic faiths around the
region pointed to several common
issues when asked about the
pope's impact on interfaith
relations: His eagerness to
travel to virtually every corner
of the world; how he rose above
the prevalent anti-Semitism and
Soviet oppression of his native
Poland; and the zeal with which
he spoke against religious and
racial bigotry.
Schrager noted that it was
John Paul who became the first
pope to recognize Israel as a
state. At the same time, the
pope also didn't hesitate to
visit mosques to pray and
worship with Muslims.
"He reached out to the Jewish
faith, he reached out to the
Islamic faith, he was admired
and he set an example of what
Christianity is," said Mohamed
Bugaighis, the former president
of the Muslim Association of the
Lehigh Valley.
When the pope was shot in
1981, John Paul refused to be
vengeful, Bugaighis remembered.
"When that guy shot him, he
forgave him. That is the
ultimate in forgiveness and
being above human failings," he
said.
Father John Kassatkin, of the
Elevation of the Holy Cross
Eastern Orthodox Church in
Hackettstown, met John Paul a
short time into his papacy and
was deeply moved by the
experience. The meeting came
while Kassatkin was serving at
St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox
Cathedral in New York City.
"Immediately you're struck by
something from within, an aura
of holiness" Kassatkin said in
describing the feeling he had
when meeting the pope. "He is a
great ecumenist. Even at his
death he's bringing people
together."
In the eyes of the Rev.
Eugene Vansuch of St. Nicholas
Russian Orthodox Church in
Bethlehem, you didn't need to be
a Catholic to feel John Paul's
reach.
"He wasn't afraid to deal
with some of the issues that
have brought the Roman Catholic
Church down to their knees. It
takes a great man to be able to
face the issues that are
confronting the church and I
give him a lot of respect for
doing that," Vansuch said. "Our
prayers are with him."
( Jeff Cox is assistant
managing editor for The
Express-Times. He can be reached
at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at
jcox@express-times.com.
