To continue: this is a cause celebre for me, a prophetic (!) mission, to make the point that the editors and contributors at the NCR are betraying a tragic ignorance of church history. The actions of JPII even early on in his pontificate were so arbitrary and authoritarian, so uncivil, if you will, that great damage was done to the episcopate the effects of which contributed in no small way to the polarization of the church. 
    There was such a thing as the PEOPLE OF GOD. The liturgy was designed so that the laity could, in their participation, share in the priesthood of Christ. There was supposed to be a sense of collegiality where the Bishops could share their gifts with the church and the world-urbi et orbi. The chair of Peter was to be a brotherly overseer, an enabler, the first among equals. JPII came on like a bull in a Chine shop (cliche) and began the process of what became the RESTORATION of Papal supremacy, with tragic results for the spiritual health of the church.