The Death of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, on 2 April, was far from an unexpected event. Nevertheless, it has provoked an avalanche of news commentary, of speeches by Heads of State and Prime Ministers, and of orations by religious leaders (many non-Catholic). Most Latin American countries as well as a number of others have decreed three or even more days of official mourning, with flags at half-mast, government offices closed, and various political authorities very publicly attending Requiem Masses. Even Fidel Castro has ordered three days of mourning for the late Pontiff --- surely something incredible a decade ago.

What most of these diverse expressions of grief and sympathy had in common, when boiled down, was the idea that the Pope’s major importance was as a messenger of peace and freedom; an enemy of Communism and other kinds of oppression, a forger of ecumenical links with other religions, and a vague “force for good” in the modern world. Complimentary as all this might sound, it misses the point of the Pope’s lifework --- and I doubt that he would be pleased with that. European Union representative Javier Solano even called him a “great European spirit;” given that the EU’s refusal to mention Christianity, the religion that gave the Mother Continent its birth and identity was an extreme annoyance to John Paul II, Solano’s action was even more ironic than Castro’s.

Now, I cannot claim to have known the Pope; I saw him a total of three times: once, when he visited Bucharest, Romania in 1999, when he said Mass directly below the room in the National Museum of Art where I was giving a lecture. The other two times were in Rome in 2000 and 2005, when I attended the Jubilee feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, and the Beatification of the Emperor Charles I of Austria-Hungary. But in my career as a Catholic writer, I have read a lot of his statements, and the decrees issued by the Vatican during his Pontificate; having written Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes in 2002-3, I can perhaps put his reign into historical context. This background assures me that the media and most world leaders are --- willfully or otherwise --- missing the whole point of John Paul II’s life.

What is being left out is that he was Catholic. It is not just that he encouraged traditional Catholic beliefs and practices, like the Rosary and other devotions to the Mother of God, Eucharistic Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, the male nature of the priesthood and so on, but that he wanted to spread the Faith, to bring non-Catholics to into the Catholic fold. Not concerned merely with individuals, he also called for the conversion of nations and societies --- what he called the “culture of life.” To that end, he called on Catholics to oppose abortion, contraception, divorce, gay marriage, extramarital sex, euthanasia, and all the other ills that have transformed this and so many other countries into what they are. To inspire Catholics in this struggle, he made more beatifications and canonizations than any other Pope in history --- Saints from many lands and every conceivable walk of life, to show that the Faith can be lived to perfection (by the time of death) by anyone, anywhere, if only he has the will to do it.

This was the authentic message of Pope John Paul II, and it is strange to see so many public officials --- religious and secular --- praising him now, when in life a large number of these praisers did everything they could to frustrate the Pope’s goals. He was, to be sure, a man of intense personal charisma, the most widely-traveled and widely seen Pope in history. There can be no doubt of his influence, so it is easy to see why so many who disbelieved in his religion --- inside and outside the Church --- would want to avail themselves of his legacy.

But just how can a Catholic today take advantage of the real heritage he left behind, how to help accomplish his goals? For starters, to believe the Faith he and his predecessors taught, and practice it as they have. Get to know the many saints he canonized --- and why he did so. Try to practice solidarity with your fellow Catholics, regardless of their nationality or rite, remembering that what affects Catholics in India or Wales should be as important to us as whatever might affect them in Guadalajara or Camarillo: that was an important thing to John Paul II. Above all, we must try to evangelize our neighbors and our country, and oppose the evils he opposed --- which together form the “culture of death” that is strangling this nation and so many others, while threatening countries like Mexico and the Philippines. This is the only real way to honor John Paul II; anything else is just talk.