Pope John Paul II Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Teachings == {{Catholic philosophy |expanded=all}} As pope, John Paul II wrote [[List of encyclicals of Pope John Paul II|14 papal encyclicals]] and taught about sexuality in what is referred as the "[[Theology of the Body]]". Some key elements of his strategy to "reposition the Catholic Church" were encyclicals such as ''[[Ecclesia de Eucharistia]]'', ''[[Reconciliatio et paenitentia]]'' and ''[[Redemptoris Mater]]''. In his ''At the beginning of the new millennium'' (''[[Novo Millennio Ineunte]]''), he emphasised the importance of "starting afresh from Christ": "No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person." In ''The Splendour of the Truth'' (''[[Veritatis Splendor]]''), he emphasised the dependence of man on God and His Law ("Without the Creator, the creature disappears") and the "dependence of freedom on the truth". He warned that man "giving himself over to relativism and scepticism, goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself". In ''[[Fides et Ratio]]'' (''On the Relationship between Faith and Reason'') John Paul promoted a renewed interest in philosophy and an autonomous pursuit of truth in theological matters. Drawing on many different sources (such as Thomism), he described the mutually supporting relationship between [[faith and rationality|faith and reason]], and emphasised that theologians should focus on that relationship. John Paul II wrote extensively about workers and the [[Catholic social teaching|social doctrine]] of the church, which he discussed in three encyclicals: ''[[Laborem exercens]]'', ''[[Sollicitudo rei socialis]]'', and ''[[Centesimus annus]]''. Through his encyclicals and many [[General epistles|Apostolic Letters]] and Exhortations, John Paul II talked about the [[dignity]] and the equality of women.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pope John Paul II|title=Mulieris Dignitatem: Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|year=1988|url=http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1988/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19880815_mulieris-dignitatem.html}}</ref> He argued for the importance of the family for the future of humanity.<ref name="Memory" /> Other encyclicals include ''The Gospel of Life'' (''[[Evangelium Vitae]]'') and ''Ut Unum Sint'' (''That They May Be One''). Though critics accused him of inflexibility in explicitly re-asserting Catholic moral teachings against abortion and [[euthanasia]] that have been in place for well over a thousand years, he urged a more nuanced view of [[Catholic Church and capital punishment|capital punishment]].<ref name="Memory" /> In his second encyclical ''[[Dives in misericordia]]'' he stressed that [[divine mercy]] is the greatest feature of God, needed especially in modern times. === Social and political stances === {{Main|Social and political stances of Pope John Paul II}} John Paul II was considered a conservative on [[doctrine]] and issues relating to human [[sexual reproduction]] and the ordination of women.<ref name="Spiegel2" /> While he was visiting the United States in 1977, the year before becoming pope, Wojtyła said: "All human life, from the moments of conception and through all subsequent stages, is sacred."<ref name="Pope John Paul II Visits the US, 1977 Year in Review" /> A series of 129 lectures given by John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in Rome between September 1979 and November 1984 were later compiled and published as a single work titled ''[[Theology of the Body]]'', an extended meditation on [[human sexuality]]. He extended it to the condemnation of abortion, euthanasia, and virtually all capital punishment,<ref name="pbs" /> calling them all a part of a struggle between a "[[culture of life]]" and a "culture of death".<ref>John Paul II. (1995). Evangelium Vitae. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, §95</ref> He campaigned for world debt forgiveness and [[social justice]].<ref name="Memory" /><ref name="Spiegel2" /> He coined the term "[[social mortgage]]", which related that all private property had a social dimension, namely that "the goods of this are originally meant for all."<ref>article 42, Solicitudo Rei Socialis</ref> In 2000, he publicly endorsed the [[Jubilee 2000]] campaign on African [[debt relief]] fronted by Irish rock stars [[Bob Geldof]] and [[Bono]], once famously interrupting a [[U2]] recording session by telephoning the studio and asking to speak to Bono.<ref name="Pope phones Bono" /> John Paul II, who was present and very influential at the 1962–65 [[Second Vatican Council]], affirmed the teachings of that Council and did much to implement them. Nevertheless, his critics often wished that he would embrace what has been called a progressive agenda that some hoped would evolve as a result of the Council. In fact, the Council did not advocate progressive changes in these areas; for example, they still condemned abortion as an unspeakable crime. John Paul II continued to declare that contraception, abortion, and homosexual acts were gravely sinful, and, along with Joseph Ratzinger (future [[Pope Benedict XVI]]), opposed [[liberation theology]]. Following the church's exaltation of the marital act of sexual intercourse between a baptised man and woman within sacramental marriage as proper and exclusive to the [[sacrament]] of marriage, John Paul II believed that it was, in every instance, profaned by contraception, abortion, divorce followed by a 'second' marriage, and by homosexual acts. In 1994, John Paul II asserted the church's lack of authority to ordain women to the priesthood, stating that without such authority ordination is not legitimately compatible with fidelity to Christ. This was also deemed a repudiation of calls to break with the constant tradition of the church by ordaining women to the priesthood.<ref name="VaticanOrdinatio" /> In addition, John Paul II chose not to end the discipline of mandatory priestly celibacy, although in a small number of unusual circumstances, he did allow certain married clergymen of other Christian traditions who later became Catholic to be ordained as Catholic priests. === Apartheid in South Africa === John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of [[apartheid in South Africa]]. In 1985, while visiting the Netherlands, he gave an impassioned speech condemning apartheid at the [[International Court of Justice]], proclaiming that "No system of apartheid or separate development will ever be acceptable as a model for the relations between peoples or races."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130309014419/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-13/news/mn-9935_1_afrikaners "Pope Attacks Apartheid in Speech at U.N. Court"] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', 13 May 1985</ref> In September 1988, John Paul II made a pilgrimage to ten Southern African countries, including those bordering South Africa, while demonstratively avoiding South Africa. During his visit to [[Zimbabwe]], John Paul II called for economic sanctions against South Africa's government.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/17/world/pope-s-south-africa-visit-honors-2-vows.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Pope's "South Africa Visit Honors 2 Vows"] ''[[The New York Times]]'', 13 May 1995</ref> After John Paul II's death, both [[Nelson Mandela]] and [[Archbishop Desmond Tutu]] praised the pope for defending human rights and condemning economic injustice.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060718134841/http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/pope-050405.htm#.UHIDqMr4IsA Mandela 'deeply inspired' by Pope] [South Africa Info], 5 April 2005</ref> === Capital punishment === John Paul II was an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, although previous popes had accepted the practice. At a papal mass in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], in the United States he said: <blockquote>"A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/1403 |title=Religious Views: Pope John Paul II's Statements on the Death Penalty |publisher=Death Penalty Information Center |access-date=3 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote> During that visit, John Paul II convinced the then [[Governor (United States)|governor]] of Missouri, [[Mel Carnahan]], to reduce the death sentence of convicted murderer Darrell J. Mease to life imprisonment without parole.<ref>Trigilio Jr., Rev. John, Rev. Kenneth Brighenti and Rev. Jonathan Toborowsky. ''John Paul II for Dummies'', p. 140, John Wiley & Sons, 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-471-77382-5}}</ref> John Paul II's other attempts to reduce the sentence of [[death-row]] inmates were unsuccessful. In 1983, John Paul II visited [[Guatemala]] and unsuccessfully asked the country's president, [[Efraín Ríos Montt]], to reduce the sentence for six left-wing guerrillas sentenced to death.<ref>Virginia Garrard-Burnett. ''Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit: Guatemala Under General Efrain Rios Montt, 1982–1983'', pp. 20–21, John Wiley & Sons, 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19-537964-8}}</ref> In 2002, John Paul II again travelled to Guatemala. At that time, Guatemala was one of only two countries in Latin America (the other being Cuba) to apply capital punishment. John Paul II asked the Guatemalan president, [[Alfonso Portillo]], for a moratorium on executions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0802/p07s02-woam.html/(page)/3 |title=With Papal Prodding, Guatemala May End Executions |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=3 November 2013}}</ref> ===Environment and ecology=== [[File:Sandro Pertini e Giovanni Paolo II insieme sulle cime dell' Adamello 12.jpg|thumb|Pope John Paul II on the peak of [[Mount Adamello]] in the [[Adamello-Presanella Alps]]]] John Paul II taught on the environmental health of Earth that "humanity has disappointed God's expectations ... degrading that 'flowerbed' which is the earth, our dwelling-place".<ref name=aud20010117 /> His phrase and exhortation, "ecological conversion", which was used in a general audience in The Vatican in 2001,<ref name=aud20010117>John Paul II, [https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/2001/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_20010117.html General Audience, Wednesday 17 January 2001: "God made man the steward of creation"], accessed 3 September 2023</ref> has been widely adopted, for example in the Mandate for [[Catholic Earthcare Australia]],<ref>Catholic Earthcare Australia, [https://archive.today/20120803220513/http://www.catholicearthcare.org.au/mandate.html Mandate for Catholic Earthcare Australia], published May 2002, archived 3 August 2012, accessed 3 September 2023</ref> and in the writings of Pope Francis.<ref>Pope Francis, [https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html Laudato Si'], Chapter 6, section 3, published 24 May 2015, accessed 3 September 2023</ref> === European Union === John Paul II pushed for a reference to Europe's Christian cultural roots in the draft of the [[European Constitution]]. In his 2003 [[apostolic exhortation]] ''[[Ecclesia in Europa]]'', John Paul II wrote that he "fully (respected) the secular nature of (European) institutions". However, he wanted the constitution to enshrine religious rights, including acknowledging the rights of religious groups to organise freely, recognise the specific identity of each denomination and allow for a "structured dialogue" between each religious community and the [[European Union]] (EU), and extend across the EU the legal status enjoyed by religious institutions in individual member states. John Paul II said: "I wish once more to appeal to those drawing up the future European Constitutional Treaty so that it will include a reference to the religion and in particular to the Christian heritage of Europe." The pope's desire for a reference to Europe's Christian identity in the EU Constitution was supported by non-Catholic representatives of the [[Church of England]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Churches]] from Russia, Romania, and Greece.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/european-council/aggregator/113730 |title=Pope says EU constitution should cite Christian heritage |publisher=EU Business |date=28 June 2003 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> John Paul II's demand to include a reference to Europe's Christian roots in the European Constitution was supported by some non-Christians, such as [[Joseph Weiler]], a practising [[Orthodox Jew]] and renowned constitutional lawyer, who said that the EU Constitution's lack of a reference to Christianity was not a "demonstration of neutrality" but rather "a [[Jacobin]] attitude".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/jewish-professor-defends-mention-of-christianity-in-euro-text |title=Jewish Professor Defends Mention of Christianity in Euro Text |publisher=[[Zenit News Agency]] |date=17 September 2003 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> At the same time, John Paul II was an enthusiastic supporter of [[European integration]]; in particular, he supported his native Poland's entry into the bloc. On 19 May 2003, three weeks before a referendum was held in Poland on EU membership, the Polish pope addressed his compatriots and urged them to vote for Poland's EU membership at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City State. While some conservative, Catholic politicians in Poland opposed EU membership, John Paul II said: <blockquote>"I know that there are many in opposition to integration. I appreciate their concern about maintaining the cultural and religious identity of our nation. However, I must emphasise that Poland has always been an important part of Europe. Europe needs Poland. The Church in Europe needs the Poles' testimony of faith. Poland needs Europe."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://euobserver.com/enlargement/11309 |title=Pope paves the way to Polish "Yes" vote |author=Marcin Frydrych |publisher=[[EUObserver.com]] |date=21 May 2003 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote> The Polish pope compared Poland's entry into the EU to the [[Union of Lublin]], which was signed in 1569 and united the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] into one nation and created an elective monarchy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www2.tygodnik.com.pl/tp/2811/main01.php |title=Od Unii Lubelskiej do Unii Europejskiej |language=pl |trans-title=From the Union of Lublin to the European Union |author=Rev. Adam Boniecki |publisher=[[Tygodnik Powszechny]] |date=25 May 2003 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> === Evolution === On 22 October 1996, in a speech to the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] [[wikt:plenary session|plenary session]] at the Vatican, John Paul II said of [[evolution]] that "this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favour of this theory." John Paul II's embrace of evolution was enthusiastically praised by American [[Paleontology|palaeontologist]] and evolutionary biologist [[Stephen Jay Gould]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/vaticanview.html|title=The Vatican's View of Evolution: Pope Paul II and Pope Pius|author=Doug Linder}}</ref> with whom he had an audience in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/stephen-jay-gould-vol-25-no-22/ |first =Michelle|last = Green|title = Stephen Jay Gould: Driven By a Hunger to Learn and to Write|date= 1986|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110110195417/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20093775,00.html|archive-date= 10 January 2011}}</ref> Although generally accepting the theory of evolution, John Paul II made one major exception—the [[Soul (spirit)|human soul]], saying: "If the human body has its origin in living material which pre-exists it, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God."<ref name="Evolution" /><ref name="NCSE" /><ref name="Tagliabue" /> === Iraq War === In 2003 John Paul II criticised the 2003 United States-led [[invasion of Iraq]], saying in his State of the World address "No to war! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity."<ref>John Paul II, "[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2003/january/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20030113_diplomatic-corps_en.html Address to the Diplomatic Corps]", Vatican, 13 January 2003 (Retrieved 7 February 2007).</ref> He sent [[Pio Laghi|Pio Cardinal Laghi]], the former [[Nunciature of the Holy See in Washington DC|Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States]], to talk with [[George W. Bush]], the US president, to express opposition to the war. John Paul II said that it was up to the United Nations to solve the international conflict through diplomacy and that a unilateral aggression is a [[crime against peace]] and a violation of [[international law]]. The pope's opposition to the [[Iraq War]] led to him being a candidate to win the 2003 [[Nobel Peace Prize]], which was ultimately awarded to Iranian attorney/judge and noted human rights advocate [[Nobel Peace Prize in 2003|Shirin Ebadi]].<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/09/1065601953306.html Pope Mooted for Nobel Peace Prize] ''[[The Age]]'', 9 October 2003</ref><ref>[http://www.deseretnews.com/article/515037715/Pope-John-Paul-II-is-the-favorite-to-win-Nobel-Peace-Prize.html?pg=all Pope John Paul II is the Favorite to Win Nobel Peace Prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106041001/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/515037715/Pope-John-Paul-II-is-the-favorite-to-win-Nobel-Peace-Prize.html?pg=all |date=6 November 2013 }} ''[[Deseret News]]'', 10 October 2003</ref> === Liberation theology === In 1984 and 1986, through Cardinal Ratzinger (future [[Pope Benedict XVI]]) as [[Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], John Paul II officially condemned aspects of [[liberation theology]], which had many followers in Latin America.<ref name="Miami" /> Visiting Europe, Salvadoran Archbishop [[Óscar Romero]] unsuccessfully advocated for the Vatican to condemn the right-wing military regime of [[El Salvador]], for violations of human rights during the [[Salvadoran Civil War]] and the support of [[death squads]]. Though Romero expressed his frustration at working with clergy who cooperated with the government, John Paul II encouraged him to maintain episcopal unity as a top priority.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Beatification of Óscar Romero |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-beatification-of-oscar-romero |magazine=The New Yorker |date=19 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What Óscar Romero's Canonization Says About Pope Francis |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/the-martyr-and-the-pope/570835/ |work=The Atlantic |date=November 2018}}</ref> In his travel to [[Managua]], Nicaragua in 1983, John Paul II harshly condemned what he dubbed the "popular Church",<ref name="Miami" /> referencing the [[basic ecclesial community|ecclesial base communities]] supported by the [[Latin American Episcopal Conference|CELAM]], and the Nicaraguan clergy's tendencies to support the leftist [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinistas]], reminding the clergy of their duties of obedience to the [[Holy See]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pope says taking sides in Nicaragua is peril to church |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/05/world/pope-says-taking-sides-in-nicaragua-is-peril-to-church.html |work=The New York Times |date=5 March 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Their Will Be Done |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1983/07/their-will-be-done/ |work=Mother Jones |date=1983}}</ref><ref name="Miami" /> During that visit [[Ernesto Cardenal]], a priest and minister in the Sandinista government, knelt to kiss his hand. John Paul withdrew it, wagged his finger in Cardenal's face, and told him, "You must straighten out your position with the church."<ref name="Religion: Berating Marxism's False Hopes" /> === Organised crime === John Paul II was the first pontiff to denounce [[Organized crime in Italy|Mafia]] violence in [[Southern Italy]]. In 1993, during a pilgrimage to [[Agrigento]], Sicily, he appealed to the Mafiosi: "I say to those responsible: 'Convert! One day, the judgement of God will arrive!'" In 1994, John Paul II visited [[Catania]] and told victims of Mafia violence to "rise up and cloak yourself in light and justice!"<ref>{{cite web |author=Filip Mazurczak |url=http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/05/the-priest-who-stood-up-to-mafia |title=The Priest Who Stood Up to the Mafia |publisher=[[First Things]] |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=2 November 2013}}</ref> In 1995, the Mafia bombed two historical churches in Rome. Some believed that this was the mob's [[Feud|vendetta]] against the pope for his denunciations of organised crime.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/mar/05/the-mafia-vs-pope-john-paul-ii/ |title=The Mafia Vs. Pope John Paul II |newspaper=The Spokesman-Review |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=15 November 2013}}</ref> === Persian Gulf War === Between 1990 and 1991, a 34-nation coalition led by the United States waged a war against [[Saddam Hussein]]'s [[Iraq]], which had invaded and annexed [[Kuwait]]. John Paul II was a staunch opponent of the [[Gulf War]]. Throughout the conflict, he appealed to the international community to stop the war, and after it was over led diplomatic initiatives to negotiate peace in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Times Wire Services |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1991-04-01/news/mn-1253_1_gulf-war |title=Pontiff's Message Condemns Destruction of Gulf War |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=1 April 1991 |access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref> In his 1991 encyclical [[Centesimus annus|Centesimus Annus]], John Paul II harshly condemned the conflict: <blockquote>"No, never again war, which destroys the lives of innocent people, teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do the killing and leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred, thus making it all the more difficult to find a just solution of the very problems which provoked the war."<ref>{{cite news |author=Drew Christiansen, SJ |url=http://americamagazine.org/issue/398/article/hawks-doves-and-pope-john-paul-ii |title=Hawks, Doves, and Pope John Paul II |work=[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America]] |date=12 August 2002 |access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote> In April 1991, during his ''[[Urbi et Orbi]]'' Sunday message at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], John Paul II called for the international community to "lend an ear" to "the long-ignored aspirations of oppressed peoples". He specifically named the [[Kurds]], a people who were fighting a civil war against Saddam Hussein's troops in Iraq, as one such people, and referred to the war as a "darkness menacing the earth". During this time, the Vatican had expressed its frustration with the international ignoring of the pope's calls for peace in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite news |author=Clyde Haberman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/01/world/pope-denounces-the-gulf-war-as-darkness.html |title=Pope Denounces Gulf War As 'Darkness' |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1 April 1991 |access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref> === Rwandan genocide === {{see|Rwandan genocide}} In 1990, during the [[Rwandan Civil War|civil war]] between [[Tutsis]] and [[Hutus]] in the mostly Catholic country of Rwanda, John Paul II called for a ceasefire and condemned the persecution of the Tutsis.<ref>{{cite news|author=Dariusz Rosiak |url=http://tygodnik.onet.pl/wiara/arcybiskup-i-maczety/l2w2l |title=Arcybiskup i maczety |language=pl |trans-title=Archbishop and machetes |publisher=[[Tygodnik Powszechny]] |date=21 July 2013 |access-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109104402/http://tygodnik.onet.pl/wiara/arcybiskup-i-maczety/l2w2l |archive-date=9 November 2013 }}</ref> In 1994, he was the first world leader to condemn the massacre of the Tutsis as a [[genocide]]. In 1995, during his third visit to [[Kenya]] before an audience of 300,000, John Paul II pleaded for an end to the violence in [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]], urging forgiveness and reconciliation as a solution to the genocide. He told Rwandan and Burundian refugees that he "was close to them and shared their immense pain". He said: <blockquote>"What is happening in your countries is a terrible tragedy that must end. During the African Synod, we, the pastors of the church, felt the duty to express our consternation and to launch an appeal for forgiveness and reconciliation. This is the only way to dissipate the threats of ethnocentrism that are hovering over Africa these days and that have so brutally touched Rwanda and [[1993 ethnic violence in Burundi|Burundi]]."<ref>{{cite news |author=Donatella Lorch |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/20/world/pope-calls-for-end-to-killings-in-rwanda.html |title=Pope Calls for End to Killings in Rwanda |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 September 1995 |access-date=9 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote> === Views on sexuality === {{Main|Theology of the Body}} While taking a traditional position on human [[Human sexuality|sexuality]], maintaining the Catholic Church's moral opposition to homosexual acts, John Paul II asserted that people with homosexual inclinations possess the same inherent dignity and rights as others.<ref name="Smith2010" /> In his book ''Memory and Identity'', he referred to the "strong pressures" by the [[European Parliament]] to recognise homosexual unions as an alternative type of family, with the right to adopt children. In the book, as quoted by [[Reuters]], he wrote: "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, more subtle and hidden, perhaps, intent upon exploiting human rights themselves against man and against the family."<ref name="Memory" />{{sfn|Pope John Paul II|2005|p=12}} In 1986, the Pope approved the release of a document from the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] regarding ''Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons''. While not neglecting to comment on homosexuality and moral order, the letter issued multiple affirmations of the dignity of homosexual persons.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html| title = Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons Paragraphs 7, 10, 11, 13}}</ref> A 1997 study determined that of all the pope's public statements, only 3% addressed the issue of sexual morality.<ref name="The Truth of Catholicism" /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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