Pope John Paul II passed away on Saturday as a result of the collective impact of several illnesses. Whether you are a Catholic or not, you have to admire the Pope because he had great interest in our favorite subjects:

• Practical use of technology for everyday purposes: The Pope brought the Catholic Church into the modern world by commissioning a huge Vatican Web Site, http://www.vatican.va/. He also took greater advantage of television and radio to communicate than any of his predecessors and traveled to 129 countries. All of these efforts furthered his goals of reaching out to the world and communicating the word of God as widely as possible.

• Lifelong participation in sports: The Pope has often been called "God's Athlete". He was an avid participant in soccer, skiing, hiking, kayaking, swimming, and ice hockey, continuing to swim, ski, and hike until late in his life. His outreach to athletes was well known. He presided over a Jubilee for the World of Sport at the Rome Olympic Stadium in the Year 2000. His homily at the Jubilee for the World of Sport drew on many Old Testament and New Testament passages that he felt supported and encouraged athletic achievement.

It would be crazy for me not to mention a few of his other most significant achievements. Pope John Paul II played an instrumental role in the fall of Communism. He reached out to people of other religions in an unprecedented way. He was committed to the culture of life and the protection of weak and defenseless people long before he himself became ill.

Pope John Paul II demonstrated throughout his life that it was important to change with the times and adopt new techniques to reach out to others, while at the same time holding steadfastly to one's principles. He will go down in history as one of the key figures of the late twentieth century. May he rest in peace after a life well lived.