And so the Catholics mourn. The same die-hard Catholics that use birth control, skip mass on Sundays to watch football, have premarital sex and drink with the intent to get drunk. These Catholics didn’t agree with the pope’s positions on gay marriage and didn’t understand why priests couldn’t marry. They often found Pope John Paul’s views too conservative and too closed-minded.

Yet, these are the same Catholics that cried over his death, the same Catholics that have been watching the news coverage of his death and funeral on television for the past week and a half, and the same Catholics that say there will never be another pope like him.

No matter whether or not they followed his teachings, they loved him. The whole world did. That’s why the media has been covering every detail of his passing for the last week and a half and why our flag flies at half staff. It’s the same reason why mourners of the pope range from thousands of Denver Catholics to a Protestant President Bush.

In every right, this man was a hero. They say there won’t be another pope like him, that his legacy cannot be matched or duplicated. He built interfaith bridges and was praised by Jews, Muslims and Protestants alike.

He reached out to Jews, praying in Auschwitz his first year in the papacy and later asked forgiveness for Catholics who contributed to the suffering of Jews in the Holocaust and Inquisition. He was the first pope to visit a synagogue since the apostle Peter.

He reached out to Muslims, visiting one of the oldest mosques in the Islamic world and encouraged Christians and Muslims to form a great religious community. He always considered Islam as a fellow spiritual community deserving of admiration and respect, just as he thought about the rest of the world and its religious communities.

His influence extended far beyond the world’s 1 billion Catholics. He played a key role in the collapse of communism in Europe, was a strong advocate for the demolition of the Berlin Wall and witnessed the end of the Cold War.

He could be considered harsh for his demand of discipline on church teachings for Catholics, but at the same time be a compassionate and forgiving leader. He even kissed the man that shot hi in the chest in an assassination attempt.

He steered his church in a conservative direction, receiving praise from some, but opposition from others. He reached out to youth, starting the annual World Youth Day in 1984, one that was held in Denver in 1993.

Even though his papacy created some controversy, John Paul’s willingness to speak out for what he believed to be wrong and right in the world was admirable.

He didn’t care if he offended world leaders and presidents when he spoke out against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His felt he had moral responsibilities and wasn’t afraid to express his opinion. He didn’t worry about his popularity and didn’t back down from his beliefs.

What some may have called inflexibility, others more rightfully call it determination.

Even during his deteriorating health, he never lost focus. He didn’t succumb to the pressures of world leaders or liberal Catholics yearning for drastic changes in the church.

Though there was more he could have done, there won’t be another like him – Catholic or not.