Date: April 4, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

Pictures of the deceased body of Pope John Paul II laid in state were shown live on television for the first time earlier today, fifteen hours after his death. Millions of TV viewers worldwide were able to see the last pictures of one of most influential world leaders of modern times and perhaps the most recognized and loved. He was dressed in red and white robes and a white mitre was placed on his head. In his hands were wooden rosary beads and next to him was a crucifix. Among the first dignitaries to pay their last respects was the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In the streets outside the Pope’s Vatican palace more than 100,000 mourners gathered for a mass in memory of their pontiff. His body will be moved to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing at 5 PM (1500 GMT) today.

The Pope died Saturday evening, aged 84, after years of poor health. Messages and acts of condolence and respect from around the world have been announced in the world’s press, many from unusual quarters. Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981, is in mourning in a Turkish prison over the death of his one-time target. Poland’s football federation has postponed its entire fixture list until John Paul’s funeral out of respect for their fellow countryman. In Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said: “The Pope's moderation and his voice for peace is noticeable”, but went on to say: “the other followers of the Roman Catholic religion are enemies of Islam.” Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh described the Pope as a “reconciler of religions” and that “he was, above all, a humanist”.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: Talk in pairs or groups about Pope John Paul II / the Vatican / the Catholic Church / the crucifix / Poland / world religions.

To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topics / partners frequently to increase conversation.

2. JOHN PAUL II BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with John Paul II. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. LAST MESSAGE: Look at and think about the last message John Paul II prepared for the world. In pairs / groups, discuss how true these words are:

"To all humanity, which today seems so lost and dominated by the power of evil, selfishness and fear, our resurrected Lord gives us his love which forgives, reconciles and reopens the soul to hope"

Change partners / groups and share what you discussed.

With your new partner / group, agree on two examples in the world today of the following:

• the world being lost
• evil
• selfishness
• fear
• hope

Return to your original partner / group and compare what you wrote. Discuss whether these are evidence that John Paul II’s words are true.

4. JOHN PAUL II’S LEGACY: Look at this list of the legacies / achievements of the Pope. Discuss whether they make John Paul II a truly great man or a man behind the times.

1. In Damascus, Syria, in 2001, he became the first pope ever to set foot in a Muslim mosque.
2. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said the collapse of communism in the 1980s and early ‘90s would have been impossible without “the presence of this pope”.
3. After he recovered from being shot, John Paul visited his would-be assassin in prison and forgave him.
4. He believed motherhood should be the goal of all women.
5. He changed the style of being pope from one of staying in Europe to traveling around the world (120 countries) to see his people.
6. He spoke eight languages.
7. He was the first pope ever to pray in a Jewish synagogue. “This pope has probably done more to strengthen Catholic-Jewish relations than any other in history.” (Rabbi James Rudin - American Jewish Committee)
8. He reached out to Africa and Asia; there are now far more African and Asian cardinals than ever before.
9. He placed a high value on human life and condemned abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty as part of a “culture of death” that is everywhere in the modern world. He said capital punishment was “cruel and unnecessary”.
10. The Pope opposed same-sex marriage saying it is part of “a new ideology of evil” that is menacing society.
11. He was strongly opposed to both wars in Iraq and sent peace messengers to talk to Presidents George and George W. Bush.
12. John Paul II was friends with the rock singer Bono from U2 and campaigned with him for debt relief for Africa and the rest of the developing world.
13. He criticized the inequities of capitalism and the materialistic values of modern society that fail to value human dignity. He said consumerism was “a struggle against God”.
14. He passionately opposed contraception.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘modern’ and ‘times’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. TV cameras showed the last seconds of Pope John Paul II’s life.  T / F
2. The Pope was one of most influential world leaders of modern times.  T / F
3. There were religious symbols from many religions laid next to him.  T / F
4. In the Vatican streets more than 1,000,000 mourners gathered for a special mass.  T / F
5. The Turkish gunman who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981 is in mourning.  T / F
6. There will be no football played in Poland until after the Pope’s funeral.  T / F
7. The Taliban sent a message of condolence over the Pope’s death.  T / F
8. The Pope was a reconciler of religions.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	deceased	VIPs
(b)	influential	sympathy
(c)	crucifix	fairness
(d)	dignitaries	cross
(e)	mourners	ultimately
(f)	condolence	grievers
(g)	quarters	dead
(h)	postponed	places
(i)	moderation	delayed
(j)	above all	inspiring

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	laid in	times
(b)	one of most influential	health
(c)	modern	all
(d)	pay their last	for peace
(e)	100,000 mourners	mourning
(f)	after years of poor	state
(g)	acts of	gathered
(h)	in	world leaders
(i)	voice	condolence
(j)	above	respects

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

GAP-FILL: Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

Deceased John Paul II seen on TV

Pictures of the __________ body of Pope John Paul II laid in state were shown live on Italian television for the first time earlier today, fifteen hours after his __________. Millions of TV viewers worldwide were able to see the last pictures of one of most influential world leaders of modern times and perhaps the most __________ and loved. He was dressed in red and white robes and a white mitre was placed on his head. In his hands were wooden rosary beads and next to him was a crucifix. Among the first dignitaries to __________ their last respects was the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In the streets outside the Pope’s Vatican palace more than 100,000 mourners gathered for a mass in __________ of their pontiff. His body will be moved to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing at 5 PM (1500 GMT) today.		death memory pay recognized deceased
The Pope died Saturday evening, aged 84, after years of poor health. Messages and acts of __________ and respect from around the world have been announced in the world’s press, many from unusual __________. Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981, is in mourning in a Turkish prison over the death of his one-time target. Poland’s football federation has postponed its entire fixture list until John Paul’s funeral __________ respect for their fellow countryman. In Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said: “The Pope's moderation and his __________ for peace is noticeable”, but went on to say: “the other followers of the Roman Catholic religion are enemies of Islam.” Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh described the Pope as a “__________ of religions” and that “he was, above all, a humanist”.		out of reconciler condolence voice quarters

2. TRUE/FALSE: Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS: Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS: Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ‘MODERN’ / ‘TIMES’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. What was interesting in this article?
2. Were you surprised by anything in this article?
3. What are your memories of John Paul II?
4. Do you think he was a great man?
5. Was he an influential world leader?
6. Was he a good representative of the Catholic Church?
7. Do you disagree with any of his beliefs?
8. Was he a “reconciler of religions”?
9. From which country / continent should the next pope come?
10. Is his face the most recognized in the world?
11. How do you mourn?
12. Could you visit and forgive someone who tried to kill you?
13. Why do you think the Taliban expressed their condolences over the Pope’s death?
14. Did you like this discussion?
15. Teacher / Student additional questions.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on how the next pope will be chosen. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. OBITUARY: Write your own obituary for Pope John Paul II.

4. BIOGRAPHY: Create an information poster on the life of John Paul II.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. TV cameras showed the last seconds of Pope John Paul II’s life.  F
2. The Pope was one of most influential world leaders of modern times.  T
3. There were religious symbols from many religions laid next to him.  F
4. In the Vatican streets more than 1,000,000 mourners gathered for a special mass.  F
5. The Turkish gunman who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981 is in mourning.  T
6. There will be no football played in Poland until after the Pope’s funeral.  T
7. The Taliban sent a message of condolence over the Pope’s death.  T
8. The Pope was a reconciler of religions.  T

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	deceased	dead
(b)	influential	inspiring
(c)	crucifix	cross
(d)	dignitaries	VIPs
(e)	mourners	grievers
(f)	condolence	sympathy
(g)	quarters	places
(h)	postponed	delayed
(i)	moderation	fairness
(j)	above all	ultimately

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	laid in	state
(b)	one of most influential	world leaders
(c)	modern	times
(d)	pay their last	respects
(e)	100,000 mourners	gathered
(f)	after years of poor	health
(g)	acts of	condolence
(h)	in	mourning
(i)	voice	for peace
(j)	above	all

GAP FILL:

Deceased John Paul II seen on TV

Pictures of the deceased body of Pope John Paul II laid in state were shown live on Italian television for the first time earlier today, fifteen hours after his death. Millions of TV viewers worldwide were able to see the last pictures of one of most influential world leaders of modern times and perhaps the most recognized and loved. He was dressed in red and white robes and a white mitre was placed on his head. In his hands were wooden rosary beads and next to him laid a crucifix. Among the first dignitaries to pay their last respects was the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In the streets outside the Pope’s Vatican palace more than 100,000 mourners gathered for a mass in memory of their pontiff. His body will be moved to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing at 5 PM (1500 GMT) today.

The Pope died Saturday evening, aged 84, after years of poor health. Messages and acts of condolence and respect from around the world have been announced in the world’s press, many from unusual quarters. Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981, is in mourning in a Turkish prison over the death of his one-time target. Poland’s football federation has postponed its entire fixture list until John Paul’s funeral out of respect for their fellow countryman. In Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said: “The Pope's moderation and his voice for peace is noticeable”, but went on to say: “the other followers of the Roman Catholic religion are enemies of Islam.” Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh described the Pope as a “reconciler of religions” and that “he was, above all, a humanist”.

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