Chances are the names of Dick Greco and the late Pope John Paul II will not often–if ever again–share the same sentence. But after witnessing Greco’s final mayoral run and seeing the beatification ceremony of John Paul, I’m reminded of two literary works worth consulting for relevant context on the aforementioned. Plus, they’re just memorably great reads.
Edwin O’Connor’s “The Last Hurrah” should have been must-reading for Greco and his advisers. Obviously it wasn’t. An iconic, undefeated politician and a genuinely good guy who had done good things for his home town going to the well one last time–although the times had inevitably changed. This time it was going to be generational. And societal. And recessional. But it was still eminently winnable.
As to the Pope’s road to canonization, there is an intriguing process at work, even if it’s being fast tracked. It involves, in effect, the vetting of a would-be saint. It involves playing the devil’s advocate. Scrutinizing an esteemed life for signs of un-saintliness. For God’s gauntlet, the bar should be heavenly high.
So the perfect complementary read: None other than “The Devil’s Advocate” by Morris L. West. No, Karol Jozef Wojtyla wasn’t foreshadowed by the fictional beatification of Giacomo Nerone. But he could have been.