John Paul II

With good reason, most critics associate the Papacy with reaction. The lingering image is one of a Renaissance holy prince lying in state beneath twisted Bernini columns, his aquiline Medici profile turned toward heaven. Popes have historically been of, and hence often for, the well-born. Their writings have been typified by a noblesse oblige attitude toward the poor who, after all, will “always be with us.” Indeed, on the one occasion when the forces of rebellion embraced a Pope — Pius IX, in the 1840s — they watched the “prince” of the Church turn back into just that. With even greater certainty ever after, the view on the Left has been that Popes will be Popes.