There's an interesting emphasis on his contribution to the downfall of communism... Not to much mention of his criticisms of capitalism, but that's not surprising. I would hardly say that his major contribution in the last 26 years was the downfall of the Soviet Union, but it was certainly a big part. I would credit him rather for leading us through the nuclear wasteland of the Cold War, but that would be an interesting topic of reflection: what would you consider JPII's major contribution to the world in his reign as Pope?

I'll think some more... I may not be able to come up with a good answer. Communism would have something to do with it, but maybe that's just my bias toward O. L. Fatima, since I read Lucia's story immediately after I converted.

Well, you must remember that most of the cartoons are from American political cartoonists. For too many, the defeat of communism was his only legacy.

I would say his greatest contribution was laying out what would called a "Christian anthropology," demonstrating how in Christ - redemptor hominis every human being has an inestinable worth and value. Every time Monsignor Swetland talks about loving people and using things vs. using people and loving things that's what he's getting at. It's the basis of just about everything the Pope did and said.