This year, on May 18, we celebrate the 101st anniversary of St. II. The birth of Pope János Pál, who left an indelible mark on the Anyasszentegyház during his nearly 27-year pontificate.
"He is a great witness of the Christianity of our time. He is an example of the fact that a life devoted entirely to Jesus Christ and the Gospel is the most exciting life possible," the pope's biographer, former member of the Swiss Guard, George Weigel, told the Catholic News Agency .
"His life was such a special drama that no Hollywood screenwriter would dare come up with. They would find it absurd”
Weigel added. According to him, the pope's memory will be decisive in the coming century, if not the entire millennium.
Mario Enzler, another member of the papal bodyguard, remembered John Paul as the pope of simplicity. I Served a Saint, Enzler recalls II. for his first meeting with János Pál:
Shortly after he began his service with the Swiss Guard, Enzler was serving on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace when word came that the pope was leaving the building and going to the secretary of state's office. According to protocol, the guards must make sure that no one is loitering in the corridor and stand guard while the Holy Father passes. Sometimes the pope stopped to talk to the guards.
"You must be new here," recalled János Pál Enzler's words. "That's why I introduced myself to him. He waited for me to finish my sentence, shook my hand and said:
Thank you Mario for serving who serves.
Then he left. The image of the servant leader, if I may say so, burned into my soul."
Enzler explains that although the first meeting was overflowing with emotions for him, he felt that II. There is something extraordinary about János Pál - and not just because he was so nice and stopped to greet the new, unknown face.
In his book, the former Guardsman also mentions that he meets many young people these days who have no idea about World War II. About John Paul.
“He was a genius, a man of prayer… he could make people feel good in his company in any situation. It doesn't matter if you talked to a Nobel laureate or a homeless person, a state president, or a kindergarten teacher. (…) With a gesture, a caress, a word, a hug or simply with his gaze. I would say it will be remembered for a thousand years for its simplicity.”
The Pope who spoke on all subjects
II. The Catechism of the Catholic Church was compiled at the request of János Pál, recognizing the danger that is the cause of most divisions among Christians to this day: the faithful are sometimes not even aware of the most basic religious truths, and the book serves to summarize everything that the Mother Church teaches .
During the papacy of John Paul II, he wrote 14 encyclicals, 15 apostolic exhortations, 11 apostolic constitutions and 45 apostolic letters.
During the 27 years of his pontificate II. János Pál wrote or spoke about a lot of things about which nowadays we only grope in the dark. Weigel warns that we just have to reach out and read what John Paul had to say about them.
"A whole generation of Catholics, now already in their 30s, 40s, 50s - lay people, believers and clerics, who are still in World War II. They get their inspiration from János Pál," wrote George Weigel.
The full article HERE .
Cover photo: Chuck Fishman/Getty Images / II. Pope John Paul in Krakow, June 1979. With this photo, the Pope appeared on the September 1979 cover of Life magazine.
