Pope John Paul II was a great man. His philosophy and political thought was right on the money.

First let me thank you for agreeing to debate me on this topic. I greatly appreciate it. You made a number of points, all of them old and already explained, but I shall attempt to tackle them as best I can in order. Your first point was that JPII did not come out strongly enough against the church sex scandal. I would argue that overall the response from him was satisfactory and was appropriate. At the time of the first allegations it would have been inappropriate for a strong condemnation of the individually accused priests because their guilt had not yet been proved. After a number of convictions the pope did come out with numerous statements condemning abuse of any kind and encouraging the protection of the young. In addition, many Diocese, including my own have put in place many good programs and methods for preventing and reporting any and all abuse. The Pope was very instrumental in making sure a number of these programs were put in place. Second, you accuse him of making the big mistake of not allowing birth control; especially when you say it could have helped with the AIDS crisis in Africa. For the holy father to allow birth control he would be first going against a long line of church teaching, and would be effectively allowing what is viewed by the church as a mortal sin. The reasons why contraception is not permitted is a discussion in itself, but the general reason why this cannot be allowed is that it perverts and distorts the act of sex, which is a beautiful and holy act set down by God for procreation between a husband and wife. To allow birth control would have been to cheapen this holy act. It may well be that in mathematics two negatives = a positive, but it just doesn't work like that in real life. And, let me remind you, there is only one 100% way to prevent STD-Abstinence. Thirdly, you criticize his (and the church's) stance on abortion and euthanasia. Besides the fact that these acts have always been viewed by the church as intrinsically evil, the act of killing a child in the womb, or killing an elderly person was an unthinkable thing in the whole church. To declare that such a thing was permissible would be to turn your back on fundamental church teachings. Now we get to your last argument. This is my favorite since it is so easy to refute. You say that the pope did not end the "Gender Divide" in the church. This is one argument which I must confess I am sick and tired of hearing. Any person who says the catholic church does not respect women need only walk into a catholic church to find that they are wrong. In almost every church there is a statue to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is extremely honored by the church. She isn't called "Our Holy Mother" for no reason. In addition, whenever a pope is elected he chooses a coat of arms and a motto. On JPII's coat of arms there was a large "M". It stood for Mary. He is known as one of the most devoted Popes to Mary in the 20th century. His motto is: "Totus Tuus" which is latin for "Totally Yours." It is in reference to his total consecration and devotion to Mary. You might also want to read his writing on the philosophy and theology of women, titled: "Women: God's Masterpiece" Finally, how do you account for Saints such as Joan of Arc, Catherine of Sienna (Doctor of The Church) and Therese the little flower (also a Doctor of the Church), etc. All women and all very instrumental to the church? Finally, You're statements that as Pope John Paul could have changed dogma is incorrect. Even the pope is not able to change dogma. It is his duty as pope to protect dogma. No pope has ever changed dogma.