As the 27 year reign of Pope John Paul II ends, the Rainbow Sash Movement (RSM) remembers him as a man who was a sign of contradiction; not only outside the Catholic Church but within its walls as well. The RSM cannot impeach his personal integrity, his single minded dedication to what he perceives to be his duty, and his commitment to an almost mystical holiness of life. We also remember he promulgated an extraordinarily voluminous corpus of official documents in addition to being the first pontiff to publish personal theological and religious works while in office. We will remember him as the traveling Pope, who reached out to diverse peoples and religions. He has brought the Jewish/Catholic dialogue process further than any previous pope. We will also remember the part he played in the crumbling of the Soviet Empire.

However there are a catalogue of woes that John Paul II leaves behind including defections and apathy among younger Catholics, falling Mass attendance across the board, an aging priesthood that seems to be self-destructing, often vicious intramural conflicts between progressives and conservatives involving a host of moral and jurisdictional issues, and ever-increasing divorce rates among Catholics.

There are many more things that can be said about Pope John Paul II, but what cannot be said of this Pope is that he reached out to the Gay and Lesbian Community. He did not show that same love and respect for individual Gay and Lesbian People. With all his journeys this was one journey he could not, or would not take. He believed in Universal Truths, he could not allow those truths to be challenged in any way, especially by the reality of Gay and Lesbian lives.

For many Gay and Lesbian Catholics we believe this moment in history is a bittersweet moment. We mourn a lost opportunity of pastoral outreach from John Paul II, we also mourn his death. Going forward we look in hope to a new Pope who may be willing to make a pastoral journey to Gay/Lesbian Community that Pope John Paul II was unable to make.

Cardinals will now start their journey to Rome for the conclave. The Rainbow Sash Movement prays that Cardinals will elect a pope that will renew the Church, and once again bring unity back to it. While most of today's Cardinals are Italian, Americans make up the second greatest group. But it does not necessarily follow that an American could be in the running to be the next pope. Some believe it would be unwise to have an American as pope, while America remains the single superpower left in the world.

We believe the Roman Catholic Church is on the verge of either an irreversible decline or a thoroughgoing transformation. We mourn the passing of a great man, may he finally rest in peace. It is time for a new beginning.