BLESSED JOHN PAUL II
* IVO DA CONCEIÇÃO SOUZA (Margão)
“Santo Subito! (Soon a Saint)” were the words to be read on several
plackards on the day of the death itself of Pope John Paul II. They were the
wish of the people who admired and loved him, in particular the youth. Today he
is Blessed. He is really “The Great”. He is simply universal. John Paul II has
left a rich legacy to the Church of tomorrow, to the society and to humanity.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified him on May 1, 2011.
When I heard about the novel of Morris West, Shoes of Fisherman, as
a student, I was eager to see a Pope of such a calibre, during my lifetime, and
succeeded. John Paul II has become a catalyst in the world history. The Pope
has brought out the Gospel message and its values to the socio-political arena,
to everyday life, to the man in the street.
Karol Józef Wojtyla was a bright student, a good sportsman, an excellent actor,
a strong worker, an excellent Professor of Philosophy, a good educationist, an
honest diplomat, a true statesman, a holy priest, a good shepherd, an excellent
bishop, a saintly Pope. He was simply great!
In 1953 Karol defended a thesis on "Evaluation of the
possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler"
at Lublin Catholic University. Later on, he became professor of moral theology
and social ethics in the Major Seminary of Krakow and in the Faculty of
Theology of Lublin. His study of the theory of values of Max Scheler gave him a
new vision, a holistic view of the human personality. He paid attention to
human emotions, to love, particularly to married love. He published his
concepts and reflections in his book Love and Responsibility, in 1960. The
theme was the marital love, which cannot reify the human person for the sake of
self-gratification. His play In front of the Jeweller’s shop was also on the
topic of human relationship. He was concerned about families.
As a sportsman, John Paul II was an athlete, played football as a goalkeeper,
and enjoyed skiing and skimming. He mastered his physical energy, but in his
last years he was mastered by his body, when he was sick with Parkinson’s
disease.
Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was Archbishop of Krakov in Poland, when he was elected
Pope (the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years).
As a statesman and a lover of his country, John Paul II returned to his
Communist-ruled homeland on June 2-16, 1979. He favoured the rise of the
Solidarity Movement and the work of Lech Walesa.
As a leader of Christianity, John Paul II presented during his first solemn
Mass in Saint Peter’s Square his programme in the unforgettable words: “Do not
be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” In the words of Pope Benedict
XVI, “What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first
to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ,
turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from
God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and
apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of
Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called
Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he
helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To
put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ,
because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man”. This was the theme
of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.
As a shepherd, since the start of his Pontificate on October 16, 1978, John
Paul II has completed 102 pastoral visits outside of Italy and 144 within
Italy. As Bishop of Rome, he has visited 301 of the 334 parishes. He came to
Goa on February 5, 1986, and celebrated the Eucharist in Campal, with around
two lakh people. He opened the Church to all. He visited the Synagogue on April
13, 1986, and called Jews “our beloved older brothers”. In May 2001 he visited
Greece and in Athens he met Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Greek
Orthodox Church. He was the first Roman Catholic Pope to visit and pray in an
Islamic Mosque, in Damascus, Syria. He visited Umayyad Mosque, where John the
Baptizer is believed to be interred.
John Paul II was the first Pope to visit a mosque and also the
first to enter a synagogue—he visited the synagogue of Rome on April 13, 1986.
When he visited Israel in 2000, he asked forgiveness for sins committed against
Christianity’s “elder brothers,” the Jews, which truly impressed Israelis there
at the time, who also had heard of his heroic efforts to help save Jews in
Poland during World War II. In his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope (1994),
he connects the devastation of the “extermination of the Jews” [p. 150, his
emphasis] with the Second Vatican Council call for ecumenism, and he explains:
“In the Catholic Church it is significant that dialogue with the Jews takes
place in the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which is also
concerned with the dialogue among the various Christian communities.”
Pope John Paul II visited Israel from March 21-26, 2000, during
which he visited the holy sites of the three major religions and met with
Israel’s political leaders and Chief Rabbis. The Pope also touched on political
issues, blessing Israel, expressing support for a Palestinian homeland and
apologizing for sins committed by Christians against Jews.
He received the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, in the Vatican on December 1,
1980. He wrote the enc.Redemptoris Missio. He was always for the suffering and
marginalized people. He wrote his enc.Salvifici Doloris. He himself suffered
and contributed to the welfare of the Church (cf.Col 1:24). He was wounded by
the Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca on May 13, 1981 in St.Peter’s Square in
Rome, as it was prophesied in the Third Secret of Fatima. A year later, he was
attacked with a bayonet and wounded in Fatima, but was overcome by the Pope’s
security guards, according to the memoirs of the Pope's personal secretary,
Stanislaw Dziwisz, by a Spanish priest, an ultra-conservative Spanish priest,
Juan Maria Fernandez y Krohn, who was convicted and jailed in Portugal in 1982.
His motto was ”Totus Tuus” (Totally Yours), inspired by St.Louis de Monfort’s
total consecration to the Virgin Mary, our most loving Mother, to whom he had
great devotion. He expressed his vision in the scriptural image of the
crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel
of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal
coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyła: a golden cross with the letter “M” on the lower
right and the motto “Totus tuus”, drawn from the well-known words of Saint
Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojtyła found a guiding light
for his life: “Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea
omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I
have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart” (Treatise on
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266). When he was wounded, he offered his
cassock to Yasna Gora (Black Lady). He wrote his enc.Redemptoris Mater and
Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, where he added luminous mysteries.
In his enc. “Ordinatio Sacerdotalis”, he affirmed the constant tradition of
celibate priesthood and the tradition of the Church of not ordaining women for
priesthood. He celebrated the Jubilee Year in 2000. On December 7, 1992, he
promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church. His teaching on Theology of
the Body, his enc.Evangelium Vitae, Fides et Ratio and Veritatis Splendor are
signs of his activity as a Teacher. The Pope has also published five books:
Crossing the Threshold of Hope (October 1994); Gift and Mystery: On the 50th
Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination (November 1996); Roman Tryptych -
Meditations", a book of poems (March 2003); Memory and Identity (2004).
He visited the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi on October 27,
1986, where he prayed together with the around 130 Heads and Representatives of
the Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities and of the World Religions,
concluding the World Day of Prayer for Peace.
He started a fruitful dialogue with the youth and established
World Youth Day (WYD) in 1985, with the intention of bringing young Catholics
from all parts of the world together to celebrate the Faith. The Patron Saint
of World Youth Day is Blessed Mother Teresa of Kalkota. When he was dying, he
told the youth: “I came to search you. Now you are searching me. Thank you!”
He named himself a “friend of the young people”.
John Paul II attached great importance to Ecumenism, expressed in
his enc.Ut Unum Sint. He was concerned with other churches and denominations.
His ministry would be in the Church, but for the world. His wish was to serve
the peoples of the world. He is careful in stating that “We have no intention
of political interference, nor of participation in the working out of temporal
affairs”. His approach would be governed by spirituality of communion, which
will build up a better society.
John Paul II tried to to reach out to all people, who are
oppressed by injustice and discrimination, whether it is in the economical
field, political life, freedom of conscience or religious freedom. John Paul II
died on April 2, 2005, aged 84. His memory will last forever. Future
generations will remember him as a Great Pope.
