DATE=10/16/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=POPE'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY

NUMBER=6-130130

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: Roman Catholics the world over are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul The Second, the fourth longest tenure of all popes. Increasingly frail, the 83-year-old pontiff is nearing the end of one of the most active reigns ever, but one tarnished of late by a sexual abuse scandal among priests. We get a sampling of the U-S press reaction to the anniversary now from V-O-A's ____________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: It was a surprise back in 1978 when an obscure cigar-smoking priest, bishop and outdoorsman from Krakow, Poland, Karol Wojtyla, was voted spiritual leader of the world's millions of Roman Catholics. On the eve of his 25th anniversary, most Americans feel he has done a good job, but half those polled feel the pontiff is now too ill to continue. In Detroit, Michigan, where he visited several times before assuming the Vatican throne, The Detroit News proposes:

VOICE: The papacy of Pope John Paul the Second has been different from day one. He was relatively young -- and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. He clearly intended to make a mark on the Church and the world. His impact on the last quarter of the 20th century is undeniable. He challenged totalitarian regimes and helped topple communism in Europe. Along the way, he became the most-traveled pope in history and strengthened ecumenical ties between Catholics and other faiths.

TEXT: A similar positive refrain is heard from Texas, and The Dallas Morning News.

VOICE: Though age and sickness have broken his body and ground his speech to a mumble, there has been no more thunderous voice in the last quarter-century preaching against war, hatred and injustice, and defending the dignity of human life. John Paul has stood up for the poor, the oppressed and the weakest among us. He has urged the rich nations to share their resources with the Third World. His labors to heal ancient rifts between the Roman Catholic Church and other faiths -- Judaism in particular -- have been epochally significant.

TEXT: As for his handling of several controversial issues, Connecticut's Waterbury Republican-American praises the pope's leadership.

VOICE: Though characterized as a conservative theologian because of his unyielding opposition to birth control, abortion rights, married and woman priests, and homosexuality, he has been an enthusiastic liberal where it counted the most. Like the man for whom Christianity is named, John Paul is a staunch advocate for human rights and a believer in the essential dignity of the individual. [He] has refused to move the church leftward on moral and theological issues, and has taken heat [Editors: slang for "criticism"] for centralizing power in the Vatican.

TEXT: "John Paul's 25th anniversary," says Pennsylvania's Allentown Morning Call "is significant to more than Roman Catholics, explaining:

VOICE: There will be disagreement even among Catholics as to whether his conservative theological teachings were the right spiritual message for an increasingly secular world. However, there can be little disagreement that the former prelate of Krakow, [Poland] has used his papacy to promote peace and heal divisions throughout the world.

TEXT: In the view of South Carolina's Charleston Post and Courier, his impact was historic.

VOICE: [The] Pope celebrates 25 momentous years as pontiff today. In that brief quarter-century the world he had known since early manhood changed utterly, now credited in no small part to his own words and actions.

TEXT: With a somewhat more critical view, Indiana's Indianapolis Star notes the pontiff celebrates: "amid mixed reviews of his legacy and speculation about the transition that will be forced by his deteriorating health."

Suggesting that he has "had a remarkable impact on the face of the physical world…" The Houston Chronicle notes he was:

VOICE: The first non-Italian pope in 455 years and for that reason had to overcome some measure of skepticism at the start.

TEXT: New York's Wall Street Journal fondly remembers his successful struggle against Communist.

VOICE: The subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union is a fitting denouement for a Polish son whose entire pastoral message has always been that the truth really shall set you free.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this editorial sampling on the Pope's 25th anniversary.

NEB/ANG/RH