I am not Catholic, nor even what you’d call religious, but I have to admit that I was moved by the news of Pope John Paul II’s death over the weekend. As a political progressive, I disagreed with many of his teachings, particularly on the subject of contraception. However, the Pope himself — a.k.a. Karol Wojtlya — always struck me as genuinely decent and kind-hearted man, and the world always suffers when we lose one of those.

Rest in peace, Karol. You deserve it.