THE FAILURE OF THE POPE

Locusts and frogs are falling on my head, but John Derbyshire has a must-read on the failed papacy of John Paul II. This Pope lost even Ireland. Yes, Ireland. How much more damning an indictment can there be? I disagree with Derbyshire on his lack of hope for the Church. But I do believe that its revival will come from the West, not the South, and it will require amending some of the most anti-modern aspects of Church teaching on sexual ethics or the role of women and a refocus on the simple and powerful message of the Gospels.