Pope acts as global conscience

On Monday afternoon in Rome, 115 cardinals will enter the conclave - the secret election that will determine the next leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics.

One American cardinal said privately, in the days before John Paul II's funeral, that he was awed, humbled and even a little afraid of the task the cardinals have ahead of them. It is easy to see why.
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"This pope was acutely aware of his opportunity to become a moral force for good in the world," said the Rev. C. Eugene Morris, professor of sacramental theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. "For him the focus was on the human person . . . and coming out of the unrest and skepticisms of the 1960s and 1970s, he gave us a healthy reminder of what institutions, especially the church, can do for us."

This seems to be a fairly decent article by Tim Townsend of the Post Dispatch.

More here.