The Passion of the Pope

Go read it. Anything I say about it would sound trite.
The Passion of the Pope at American Digest.

We live more and more, but more and more we do not know how to die.

To teach us this thing the Pope will now enact the lesson, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. His is the ancient church that, teaching First Things in ways many now no longer care to hear, teaches us now about Last Things in ways that many fear to learn. And it is the leader of that Church who, as he has in all things for decades, again leads in this teaching. If you are, as am I, late to the study of this man and his life, it would be best to pay attention now. This lesson of the Stoic will not be repeated.

The Passion of the Pope is a living lesson that will teach many things to many millions of the faithful and the atheist alike in the days to come, not the least of which will be that the value of life in all conditions and all stages is not something that can be casually discarded or medicated or made easy simply because we can elect to end it.

There's more.
And don't neglect the link to the Irish Examiner.com.
As Ronan Mullen says, "In a world grown suspicious of the idea of heroes, here surely is a man who stands out. Get to know him while he’s still with us. Something tells me you’ll be talking to your grandchildren about him. Don’t be caught sleepwalking while history is in the making."