Three days of mourning for Papa Ivo Pavo II in Croatia and in the US

The Croatian governement doesn't separate Religion and State on the American model, I expected in a 90% Catholic country where most of the leadership are Catholic to see official mourning and flags at half-staff. That is normal there. Here in the States it's odd. I am not necessarily against it, after all Catholics are the largest single religion in the States. there are members of other religions of course, Protestant denominations mostly and there is a siseable Muslim community in the States, in fact it's possible that Muslims out number Jews in the U.S. at this point. Anyway there were people who objected to President Bush ordering flags at half-staff here for the Pope. I guess he's just trying to keep the Catholics cool with him.
I am not cool with President Bush. I think that probably it was not appropriate from a separation of Church and State to lower the flags for Papa Ivo Pavo II, but from a feelings point of view it's understandable.
I find it kind of interesting anyway because Papa Ivo Pavo II was quite critical of the war in Iraq, this war is harmful to the Catholics of that region. The Pope was right to oppose that war, it's the Pope's job to oppose things that endanger Catholic people.
Difficulties between Muslims and Christians endanger ALL of Christendom. That brings us to the other part of the mission of the Pope, he not only is expected to defend the Catholic Church, but all of Christendom, includeing the Protestant and Orthodox branches of the Christian faith.
I think at heart most Americans got this, except for a few real tiresome extremists.
Anyway I have mixed feelings and thoughts about this flag lowering. Probably it's harmless and fighting about it or discussing it is actually more harmful than letting it go. There are bigger fish to fry out there civil liberties-wise.

How to look at linx in these pages,

I'm not sure if this is going to happen in this blog or not, but sometimes if a link is mentioned, it might be possible to find it by clicking on the title of the article. This is not my only blog, and I don't see the relevant feature here so I'm not sure.

Rest in Peace Papa Ivo Pavo II

This is late, for this blog anyway, but I will go ahead and put something here, Papa Ivo Pavo II was loved and respected in Croatia, and in BiH, includeing in the area known in antiquity as Paganija.
He suffered very greatly, and did not want everyone to grieve too much for him, but we do.
He is to be buried Friday and hundreds of thousands have gone to Rome to pay their respects. People actually are taking busses, and even DRIVEING from different parts of Croatia to go there, I respect that, it's a beautiful tribute.
Papa Ivo Pavo II loved the Croatian people and the Bosnian people, and one of his most cherished possesions was an earthern ware bowl of soil from Croatia given to him in the course of one of his visits, and one of the honors he cherished most was honorary citizenship in the lovely city of Dubrovnik.
He really spoke Croatian beautifully, of course the Polish people and the Croats are Catholic Slavs, but beyond that, his part of Poland had once many Bijeli Hrvati, who of course speak Croatian.
There are other ties between the peoples of Poland, Croatia and Bosnia.
One of Poland's greatest rulers was Saint Queen Jadwiga Anjou. She was half Bosnian. I know, this tie is from hundreds of years ago, but it still matters, it still is a tie, people still are aware of it.
I have tried to research it and only two Slavs have been Pope, Pope Sixtus V, who'se building projects gave Rome a lot of it's present flavor, and Papa Ivo Pavo II. Pope Sixtus V was called 'the tough pope' He actually personally took a hand in cleaning things up in Rome, then a desperately crime-ridden city. His parents were originally from Dalmacija. He was born in Italy and the Italian people therefore claim him, the same as they claim Marko Pilic, (a.k.a. Marco Polo) A lot of Croatians and a lot of Catholic Bosnians ended up as refugees in Italy. They replaceed the people who lost their lives to plague, malaria and war. MOlise, Calabria, Abruzzo, Tuscany, and Venice all recieved influxes of people from various parts of the Balkans. These people did not entirely assimilate. They often retained their language, whether that language was Croatian or Albanian. Often these people had two names, an Italian name and a Croatian name or an Albanian name. They lived in two worlds. Pope Sixtus V was such a person, and Marco Polo was another such person. The other reason non-Catholics might have heard of Pope Sixtus V is he excommunicated Elizebeth I of England.
Pope John Paul II is known for much, I think he will be remembered long in history, he will be remembered as the Pilgrim Pope, because he traveled so much, and he actually made it to Jerusalem. He tried to build bridges between Catholics and Jews and Muslims. This may have been his single most important task adnd it is one that is unfinished. I very much hope that his sucessor can take these things on, as the very survival of the Church is affected by these issues.

Rest in Peace Papa Ivo Pavo II

This is late, for this blog anyway, but I will go ahead and put something here, Papa Ivo Pavo II was loved and respected in Croatia, and in BiH, includeing in the area known in antiquity as Paganija.
He suffered very greatly, and did not want everyone to grieve too much for him, but we do.
He is to be buried Friday and hundreds of thousands have gone to Rome to pay their respects. People actually are taking busses, and even DRIVEING from different parts of Croatia to go there, I respect that, it's a beautiful tribute.
Papa Ivo Pavo II loved the Croatian people and the Bosnian people, and one of his most cherished possesions was an earthern ware bowl of soil from Croatia given to him in the course of one of his visits, and one of the honors he cherished most was honorary citizenship in the lovely city of Dubrovnik.
He really spoke Croatian beautifully, of course the Polish people and the Croats are Catholic Slavs, but beyond that, his part of Poland had once many Bijeli Hrvati, who of course speak Croatian.
There are other ties between the peoples of Poland, Croatia and Bosnia.
One of Poland's greatest rulers was Saint Queen Jadwiga Anjou. She was half Bosnian. I know, this tie is from hundreds of years ago, but it still matters, it still is a tie, people still are aware of it.
I have tried to research it and only two Slavs have been Pope, Pope Sixtus V, who'se building projects gave Rome a lot of it's present flavor, and Papa Ivo Pavo II. Pope Sixtus V was called 'the tough pope' He actually personally took a hand in cleaning things up in Rome, then a desperately crime-ridden city. His parents were originally from Dalmacija. He was born in Italy and the Italian people therefore claim him, the same as they claim Marko Pilic, (a.k.a. Marco Polo) A lot of Croatians and a lot of Catholic Bosnians ended up as refugees in Italy. They replaceed the people who lost their lives to plague, malaria and war. MOlise, Calabria, Abruzzo, Tuscany, and Venice all recieved influxes of people from various parts of the Balkans. These people did not entirely assimilate. They often retained their language, whether that language was Croatian or Albanian. Often these people had two names, an Italian name and a Croatian name or an Albanian name. They lived in two worlds. Pope Sixtus V was such a person, and Marco Polo was another such person. The other reason non-Catholics might have heard of Pope Sixtus V is he excommunicated Elizebeth I of England.
Pope John Paul II is known for much, I think he will be remembered long in history, he will be remembered as the Pilgrim Pope, because he traveled so much, and he actually made it to Jerusalem. He tried to build bridges between Catholics and Jews and Muslims. This may have been his single most important task adnd it is one that is unfinished. I very much hope that his sucessor can take these things on, as the very survival of the Church is affected by these issues.