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# Searching the Pope
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/19370/
- Published: 2005-04-04T22:04:23.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:33:05.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:15

John Paul II is headlining everywhere this week. [Even the Arab media](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/international/middleeast/04arab.html??ref=opendemocracy.net) have been leading on the story, say the New York Times. Online, the most thorough posthumous account of the Pope's life is found on [Wikipedia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope%5FJohn%5FPaul%5FII?ref=opendemocracy.net) Lord knows [how many](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pope%5FJohn%5FPaul%5FII&action=history&ref=opendemocracy.net) people helped edit and write the entry.[ ](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pope%5FJohn%5FPaul%5FII&action=history&ref=opendemocracy.net)

One of the [Top 40](http://www.daypop.com/top/?ref=opendemocracy.net) articles that making the rounds in the 'blogosphere' (see [Outside the Beltway](http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/9907?ref=opendemocracy.net)) is by Christopher Hitchens on *Slate*, ["Papal Power: John Paul II's other legacy](http://slate.msn.com/id/2116085?ref=opendemocracy.net)". For all the official apologies the Pope made over the years (...anti-semitism, mafia relations, etc), Hitchens reminds us of the Pope's failure to act quickly on sexual child abuse in the Church.

Conservative bloggers like [Michelle Malkin](http://michellemalkin.com/archives/001975.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) and [John Henke](http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=1504&ref=opendemocracy.net) were quick to dismiss posthumous criticism of the Pope as distasteful ("nekro-heckling"), but readers in both these blogs defended Hitchens' argument.

Would things have been different with a democratically elected leader of the Church? Probably not so long as the terms last a lifetime. Some great discussion in openDemocracy's [forums](http://www.opendemocracy.net/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=175) going on...