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“[W]ith our Apostolic Authority we concede that the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II, Pope, from this hour can be called Blessed.”
At about 9:45am on May 1st, 2011 these words were proclaimed by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. In doing so he declared to the world his predecessor could be called Blessed John Paul. I was there when it happened – sort of. I was in the city of Rome but unfortunately I didn’t make it as far as St Peter’s Square that morning. Such were the crowds that I couldn’t get within two miles of the Pope. So I doubled back on my path and made my way to the Circus Maximus where I joined thousands of other pilgrims who were watching the ceremony on big screen.
Sitting on the gravel and warming myself in the spring sunshine, I heard Pope Benedict announce that John Paul II, Pope, from this hour can be called Blessed. At that very moment an enormous tapestry bearing John Paul’s smiling face was unfurled. Then the tears began to flow. I looked at those around me and saw that almost everyone was weeping. But these weren’t the tears of a heartbroken people who grieved the loss of their father, as they had at his funeral in 2005. They were tears of joy and whilst I was in the city of Rome for the Beatification of John Paul II, I experienced real joy, Christian joy.
I never met John Paul II and I never came close to meeting him. Throughout his life though, I felt I knew him and I grew attached to him. For almost all of my life, he was “the Pope”. However I have no memory of him as the fit, sturdy man who can be seen in pictures with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan. The Pope I remember was an elderly priest who struggled and visibly suffered. Watching him on television was frequently an uneasy experience and I always feared that in his frailty he might suddenly collapse as the television cameras rolled.
Despite his obvious infirmity I was drawn to him. I wasn’t alone. My enduring memory of John Paul II is when he addressed two million young people who attended World Youth Day in 2000. We young people were attracted to him because of his captivating personality and heroic persistence in the face of his own physical weaknesses. Most importantly however, he taught us. John Paul taught us that only Christ speaks words that stand the test of time and remain for all eternity and that only Christ is capable of satisfying the deepest aspirations of the human heart. He showed us the beauty of the Catholic Faith and for this we loved him.
Kevin Leavy |
