Partially progressive papacy: With the death of Pope John Paul II, conservatives in Rome are said to be vying for the "soul of the church" by making early moves to block the election of a progressive pope. Solidly conservative, John Paul was often considered an ally of rightwing Republicans in the US because of his opposition to abortion and his stance against Stalinism in Europe, writes Juan Cole, but in other areas—opposition to the death penalty and the war in Iraq, and a more balanced view on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—he "was often an inconvenient man" to American conservatives. Cole catalogues some of JP2's most quotable moments:

War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity... [F]aced with the constant degeneration of the crisis in the Middle East, that the solution will never be imposed by recourse to terrorism or armed conflict, as if military victories could be the solution. And what are we to say of the threat of a war which could strike the people of Iraq, the land of the Prophets, a people already sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo? War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations.

The Holy See has always recognized that the Palestinian people have the natural right to a homeland, and the right to be able to live in peace and tranquility with the other peoples of this area. In the international forum, my predecessors and I have repeatedly claimed that there would be no end to the sad conflict in the Holy Land without stable guarantees for the rights of all the peoples involved, on the basis of international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions and declarations.

We must all continue to work and pray for the success of every genuine effort to bring peace to this land. Only with a just and lasting peace -- not imposed but secured through negotiation -- will legitimate Palestinian aspirations be fulfilled. Only then will the Holy Land see the possibility of a bright new future, no longer dissipated by rivalry and conflict, but firmly based on understanding and cooperation. The outcome depends on the courageous readiness for those responsible for the destiny of this part of the world to move to new attitudes of compromise and compliance with the demands of justice.