Everyone is so sad now, as if they’ve literally lost their father. But what kind of respect are you showing that father if you don’t follow his example, if you don’t live up to his one single requirement (rather, expectation/hope) of everyone – respect each other? Poles go on and on about how John Paul will be “John Paul the Great,” only the third such pope to get that posthumous title, but so many of them don’t do what this great man said.

There’s so much corruption in Poland that it’s not even funny any more. The evening news could easily be turned into a game show: “Guess The Today’s Scandal!” Priests are rich, the poor are getting poorer, and the unemployment level is not improving. They build beautiful new churches, but there aren’t quality roads in the country, not to mention a complete lack of highways.

I sometimes wonder if Poland is so sad simply because they’ve lost a hero, not because they’ve lost a spiritual leader. Sure, some of them are truly saddened by the spiritual aspect of it, but judging from the number of people who actually follow JP2’s example, it’s a minority.