The passing of Pope John Paul The Great
 

by Tony Blaz - 
KUAM's Political Insider
April 22, 2005

Over the past few days the entire world witnessed a number of great historical events, the passing of Pope John Paul The Great and the ascension of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. 

It was fascinating to witness live all of these momentous events of the new millennium.

Pope Benedict XVI, or Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is considered to be a very holy and intelligent man. As head of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith under John Paul The Great, he held fast to the teachings and the fundamental principles of the Roman Catholic Church. On the eve his succession to the throne of Saint Peter, Pope Benedict XVI admonished his fellow cardinals to guard against succumbing to what he termed the dictatorship of relativism. 

He observed that in today's world having a clear faith based on the creed of the church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude acceptable. He warned that the world is moving "toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one own desires."

Listening to Pope Benedict's moving homily, i couldn't help but think of our island leaders. Our island faces many challenges. Thousands of our people have to contend with Guam's incredibly high cost of living ad the islands many difficulties. Even more disconcerting are the actions of the previous hospital administration whose dismal record leaves a lot to be desired.

To our leaders I say to you, do not be swept away by all these different winds that coming blowing your way, like the wind of privatization, especially when such privatization is done for privatization's sake. I suggest privatization is good when the interest of our people are best served, when the cost to our taxpayers is significantly reduced, do not to succumb to the winds of self interests and self aggrandizement, our taxpayer dollars and our people are far too important to fall victim to these so called winds of change.

Our leaders should take heed of this holy man's sage advice to all of humanity. To paraphrase the words of his holiness, I say to our leaders: let not your ego and your own desires take precedence over the interests of our people, the people of Guam!    

Tony Blaz hosts "Positively Local", a radio talkshow on Isla61-AM everyday from 6-10am