I had the honor and privilege of personally meeting Pope John Paul II six times during my years in Rome. Everything Karol Wojtyla did - as priest, poet, philosopher, playwright, bishop, father of Vatican II, Pope and world statesman - was an expression of his discipleship.” The papal biographer, George Weigel, said it well when asked “what is the essence of John Paul’s holiness?” He replied: “Radical discipleship. He is being canonized because of his holiness and heroic virtue, his saintly life and death. Nor is he being beatified for his amazing pontificate: his apostolic visits around the world, his role in the downfall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, his influence in world affairs, his charismatic leadership, or for any number of accomplishments during his 27-year pontificate. I turn to his writings often for wisdom and knowledge.īut Pope John Paul II is not being beatified for his intellectual gifts and accomplishments. His homilies, encyclicals, apostolic letters and exhortations fill more than a bookshelf in my residence. I think I learned more from Pope John Paul II than I did from my university theology classes. I felt like a disciple at the feet of his master, listening and soaking in his homilies and speeches. Those years were a grace-filled time of my life, most especially because of the one I came to admire and to love as truly a “Holy Father.” I don’t know how many of his Masses and audiences I attended, probably over a hundred. From 1979 to 1983 as a seminarian and from 1985 to 1988 as a priest, I lived and studied in Rome. The next year, I was sent to Rome for my theological studies. He brought hope for a new springtime of the Church. I knew that he was just what the Church needed at that time in history. I was immediately taken by his energy and youth, his charisma and strength. Little could I have imagined the effect this new Pope would have on my life as a seminarian, as a priest, and as a bishop. The first election of a non-Italian Pope in over 400 years surprised the world. I remember watching his election (October 16, 1978) on television while a seminarian at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. Reflecting on my memories of this great Pope has been an occasion of grace for me and fills me with thanksgiving for this incredible man, a faithful and courageous disciple of Jesus Christ, a holy priest and bishop, an amazing Pope. I have been asked to write about my memories of the soon-to-be beatified Pope John Paul II for this week’s issue of Today’s Catholic.
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