Mary Reid

The Pope was a complex person. He was an internationalist, and a staunch defender of human rights and economic justice. He is credited with being one of the key figures in the ending of the Cold War. He opposed the war in Iraq and the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. And yet he was ultra-conservative on issues like contraception, the prevention of HIV, abortion, the position of women, and married priests . He did not handle the child abuse issues in the church particularly well.

It just shows that it is not always easy to pigeon-hole people. But what shines through is the fact that people loved him - it's not often that you can say that about a major leader.

As a Christian I thank God for the life of John Paul II.