Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honour of Pope John Paul II.
As a Roman Catholic, I feel the loss of his Holiness on a very personal level. His love and devotion to his faith, and to the human race are an example to us all.
Above all, the legacy of Pope John Paul II will be his humanitarian contributions on behalf of people of all faiths.
He fought fearlessly for freedom in his native Poland, against communism, and saw it defeated. He stood face to face with Haiti's dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier and said “things really have to change here”. He went to Sicily and told the Mafia to stop the killing.
Yet for his strength of conviction, he always sought common ground. He reconciled with the Jewish movement. He praised Gandhi as one of his teachers. He even visited his would-be assassin and offered his personal forgiveness.
As a Catholic, he led the faithful. Beyond this, he tirelessly and successfully fought against social injustice around the world on behalf of people of all faiths.
Godspeed, John Paul.