Joni Mitchell’s words illuminate the passing of Pope John Paul II in a way which we have failed to note on this side of the Atlantic: “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Regardless of how people view Catholicism and religion, the role Karol Wojtyla played in the world over the last decades held such influence that finally, his absence will be felt in ways his presence may not have been.  

Pieces published in the News.Scotsman.com, Allafrica.com, and the Timesonline.co.uk draw attention to the impact this man has had upon the world beyond the religious sphere.

“He was not only for Catholics, but all religions and the world at large,” said Monsignor Sladan Cosic of the Vatican Embassy in Zambia.

Stefan Chwin wrote, in an article translated by Philip Boehm, that while Wojtyla was loved by the Poles for many reasons, they loved him most for “his visible respect for people from all corners of the earth.”