Word: pontiff
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...years now, Karol Wojtyla -- once actor, then priest, then Archbishop and Cardinal -- has been Pope John Paul II, the Supreme Pontiff, Bishop of Rome, leader of a church of nearly 1 billion souls. "It's curious," an Italian Archbishop once said, "you'd think he had always been Pope." And yet to understand the man and his papacy, one must look not only to the Vatican, from which he issues spiritual guidelines, but also to the almost mystical Poland he holds in his heart. Indeed, though the Pope's corner bedroom on the third floor of the Vatican's Apostolic...
...image of someone who is suffering is important for the church." To the sick whom he visits, the Pope has a request: "Pray for me. Pray for me." Still, his friend and confidant, Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger of Paris, advises the Pope's critics not to underestimate the aging Pontiff: "This is perhaps the most decisive moment of the whole pontificate...
Sodano is, in effect, the Pope's Prime Minister and the only curial official with instant access to John Paul. But there are other Cardinals the Pope confers with regularly. Every Friday evening, the Pontiff meets with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, 67, the austere German theologian whose title is prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (once known as the Holy Office). "Ratzinger is a theologian and John Paul is a philosopher, but they basically see eye to eye," says a veteran Vaticanologist. The two became friends at the Second Vatican Council, when both were young bishops...
Profile: Philosopher and autocrat, Polish priest and Roman Pontiff, aging...
...have given this honor to Lech Walesa and to Pope John XXIII -- but also to Stalin and Hitler!" Sancton, a bit nonplussed, explained, "Holy Father, you must understand that we have a good list and a bad list. You are on the good list." Gratified but still playful, the Pontiff replied, "I hope I always remain on the good list...