Patrick Novecosky is a media relations professional and freelance writer. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and five children. His new book is 100 Ways John Paul II Changed the World (Our Sunday Visitor, 2020).
From his first Mass as pope to the last days of his life, John Paul II often repeated what became a primary theme of his pontificate: “Be not afraid!” At the heart of this call was that all people — Christians and non-Christians — should not fear to open their hearts completely to Jesus Christ, allowing him to transform them from within. It was a call to conversion and repentance. So, when Joe Biden quoted the former pope last week, exhorting Americans to “be not afraid,” it raised the hackles of a good number of faithful Catholics.
