Pope_John_Paul

As I prepare this on Saturday afternoon on 2^nd April, I can hear the news bulletins telling us that the Pope is ‘gravely ill’. One Polish Cardinal is quoted as saying that he is ‘fading serenely’. At this moment, there are thousands of people standing, praying silently in St Peter’s Square in Rome, and I know we want to join them in praying for Pope John Paul.

Millions more words will be written about Pope John Paul. He has been a towering figure of the 20/21st Centuries. A man of profoundly deep faith and dedication. A real intellectual heavyweight. He has served the Church longer than almost all his predecessors and has travelled to 129 countries on his pastoral visits to preach the Gospel.

Most Catholics in the world have never known any other Pope. I was just reflecting this morning that I was invited by a neighbour in Amble (a non-Catholic as it happens) to watch the funeral of Pope Pius XII – we didn’t have a telly in October 1958 when he died - and now the plight of the Pope is an international media event.

I was privileged to meet the Pope on two occasions, near the beginning and the end of his pontificate. In York, on 31st May in 2002 he was a vigorous, tireless figure, who, despite having been shot on 13 May 2001, was well able to keep up with his huge responsibility as Pope and Head of State. In February 2000 in the Vatican with other Seminary Rectors he appeared to be frail and obviously suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It is a comment on his extraordinary physical strength and total dedication to his Vocation as the ‘Supreme Bridgebuilder’ that he has been able to carry on so long. We remember him in our prayers, that he may be at peace.

The media tell us that Pope John Paul II is the 3^rd longest serving Pope in history, after St Peter and Pius IX (June 1846 – 1878) and St Peter (died around 64 AD) – to be honest, there must be a discussion about how Peter saw his role as the Primate of the Christian Community at that time…._ But there is absolutely no doubt that Pope John Paul II has travelled further than all other Popes in history. He has visited 129 countries, some of them more than once. He has visited more than all of them put together!

Pope John Paul was born on 18^th May 1920, in Wadewice, a small town on the Polish/Czecholslovak border. His father, also called Karol, a Polish Army officer with a passion for military discipline, was married to Emilia. She was a gentle woman, a teacher. The Pope had one brother, Edward, who later qualified as a doctor. He was 15 when Karol was born, There is no doubt that he was an outstanding pupil at Junior School. His mother died when he was 9 years of age, and his brother died two years later of Scarlet Fever. His father remained a strict disciplinarian, which has probably formed his ability to remain strong and resolute in his approach to Church and political issues.

At the age of 18 – in 1938, Karol and his father moved to Cracow where he became a student at the University – reading Polish Literature and Philosophy. He also became a member of the local Drama Group, writing poetry and performing in plays and supporting Jewish students who were in hiding at that time.

Karol’s father died in 1941, and this affected him deeply. He spent his time as a student working in a local quarry, where he sustained two physical accidents, and it was during this time that he wondered about becoming a priest. In 1942 he enrolled in the, then, illegal theological department of Cracow University, he then ‘disappeared’ for a couple of years until 1944 when the Cardinal Archbishop looked after him until Poland was liberated by the Russian army in January 1945.

Pope John Paul’s upbringing must have had a significant influence on him, - it probably has on the rest of us! In 1948 he left Poland after completing his Doctorate on St John of the Cross – a man who really suffered at the hands of his brother monks in Spain in the 16^th century. Karol Wojtyla’s upbringing was both deeply spiritual and disciplined.

In 1958 Fr Wojtyla was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cracow at the age of 38 – he heard about it on a canoeing holiday! I love the fact that he didn’t return to Cracow until after his holiday with the students – he must have had his priorities right…He immediately began to meet with academic, civic and religious leaders in Cracow, to discover what they had in common, rather than worry about what they found different – a very courageous move at that time.

Bishop Wojtyla was an influential bishop at the Second Vatican Council, and continued to live a very simple and frugal lifestyle, something he has continued since his appointment as Pope in October 1978.

There is much more to be said about Pope John Paul II.

He was elected as Pope on 16 October 1978. I happened to be in Casteldandolfo on 6^th August 1978 when Pope Paul VI died. I took a number of young people from Newcastle to pay our respects as he lay in state in his apartment there. To be honest, I was staying in the English College Villa at Pallazola the night before, and I presumed when all the lights went out in Castendaldofo and Pallazola that one of the young folk must have wrecked the entire electrical system for that part of the Country – in fact, that was the local peoples’ way of recognising the death of the Pope. It was a most moving experience to walk through his apartments and see him lying in State.

No doubt many people will do something similar in the days to come. Our prayers are with the Catholic Community throughout the world as we remember Pope John Paul, and as we pray for Cardinals who meet to choose his successor.

6.30 pm Friday – The News Bulletins continue to relay messages from the Vatican. There are messages from all over the world, from heads of state, government ministers and Church leaders acknowledging the role Pope John Paul had paid throughout the world. There is no question about what he has done in relation to the former Soviet Union. He has been resolute in relation to the Middle East and has been very clear about his role regarding Palestinians and Jewish people in the Middle East. His contribution to Catholic Social Teaching has been amazing. He has written almost half of the Pope’s Letters in this regard since 1891 – if only we really read and understood what he had to say, would at least challenge the current rather spurious (to my mind) controversy about religion and politics coming up to our General Election. As Cardinal Hume used to say, and Pope John Paul would certainly accept – ‘Religion might be personal, but it is never private’.

2.30 pm Saturday – we continue to hear reports from Rome, the massive numbers of people visiting St Peter’s Square, and the thousands standing in front of the buildings in which Karol Wojtyla had lived and worked. There are thousands of comments and commendations coming in from around the world. I just think that it is incredible that he is still willing to be courageous, strong, frail and faithful in front of the world’s media. He is offering us an amazing witness to spiritual and Gospel values in the face of pressure to be comfortable, wealthy and self-centred. May he continue to be and to rest in peace.

Jim O’Keefe 2.30 pm Saturday 2 April 2005