Dying is not a Catholic event, it is a human event. And in his dying, this pope showed us a great human spirit. He allowed us to witness his passing, confident that his faith would allow him to do it with grace and acceptance.
Whether we are better for what he did during his life is something people will long debate. But there can be no doubt that we are better for what he did in his death.
Each of us now can go to our own death a little more confident that there is peace in the passing if it is surrounded by faith. The challenge he left us is to find that faith. It is a legacy worthy of a man who spent his life in the service of God.