Pope John Paul II, Classical Liberal

Anne Barbeau Gardiner notes that the late pontiff "appropriated as 'naturally Christian' the principles once thought to be the 'exclusive preserve of the Enlightenment,' and put them on 'a coherent ethical foundation' to make them capable of serving man and supporting 'his fundamental rights, starting with the right to life'" — Intimate Memories of the Late Pope. "In the great battle over morality during his pontificate, he was often accused of being reactionary, but what he proposed was 'a humanism he thought could help contemporary man rediscover the authentically moral meaning of his history and destiny.'"