„Voy a despedirme de mi padre“ “I come to say goodbye to my father” “Ich komme, um mich von meinem Vater zu verabschieden.”
Cartel de la Ciudad de Roma: Roma llora y saldua a su Santo Padre The Rome Municipality's adieu poster: "Rome weeps, and greets its Holy Father". Plakat der Stadt Rom: “Rom trauert und grüßt seinen Papst.”
Miles de peregrinos esperan Thousands of pilgrims waiting Tausende von Pilgern auf dem Weg zum Vatikan
Iglesia peregrina Pilgrim Church Pilgernde Kirche Fotos: Donnelly © 2005

ROME, Fr. Alberto Eronti. Rome, Thursday 7th. Yesterday was a very intense day, impossible to imagine or describe, if it is not seen or heard directly, everything that is transmitted by the media is somewhat unreal and at the same time intensely interrogative. How is that possible? How do you explain the amount of love for one person? Rome is at the point of collapse, if it were not for the firmness and realism of the National Director of Civil Protection, without a doubt we would have attended an unforeseeable chaos in the "eternal city", which will become "capital of the world". Last night, at 10:00 p.m. no one could get in the long line to see the Pope. This decision "saved" the area around the Vatican. Thousands of pilgrims who have arrived and those who are arriving will only say farewell in the Mass of Friday morning.

The comments impressed me intensely and the faces of the youth in the tense wait to see the Pope (yesterday there was more than a 14 hour wait). I was able to see a young journalist, interviewing a group pilgrims, he asked one of them: "How long have you been in line?". the boy looked at her with a fixed stare and responded: "I am not in line, I am on my way to see the Pope". Evidently there is a difference, and the young man knew how to make that distinction.

The favorites of the newsmen were the youth, they asked them insistently why they were making such an effort. The responses, in spite of many, coincided noticeably: "I have come to bid my Father farewell". "I was born when John Paul II was guiding the Church, he has been like a light in my path, how could I not be grateful for what he has done for me?" But not only the youth, the older people also gave testimony of their grateful love "for the man of God".

How many will someday remember Hans Kung, Reyes Mate, Leonardo Boff...?

Some newspapers are already bringing out articles that point out the mistakes or possible errors of Pope Wojtyla. Of the ones I have read the hardest and most critical belongs to Hans Kung. What can I say? If John Paul II had not erred, it would have been God. He was not mistaken. But I recall an anecdote that surely makes to the point. When John XXIII died, a Cardinal told some of the media: "It will take us 50 years to repair what this Pope destroyed in five". What a sense

humor God has and what vanity has man! Nobody speaks about that Cardinal, but John XXIII is already beatified and thousands pray at his tomb. Who will remember Hans King, Reyes Mate, Lenardo Boff someday...? How many will cry when they die? In conclusion: one thing are the errors that a man can make, and another the capacity he had to love and to be loved. That is the point.

The Pope who changed the world

Marco Politi, a journalist for the newspaper, "La Repubblica" (a leftist newspaper), has written, as it is usual for him, an exceptional article because of its truth and realism. It helped me to reflect, so I will use a summary of his ideas, joined to mine, to share what the Church and the world are living at this moment. The Pope, John Paul II:

1. Has forced the world to yield and he will go down in history. He has spoken to everyone and he has suffered, that is why he is loved and understood by the simple and uncomplicated ones. He has made mistakes, but he leaves a precious inheritance. He has dreamed of a united Europe and he has challenged the leadership of the United States...
2. Pope Wojtyla, who makes "waves" with the youth in Torvergata. Pope Wojtyla before the wailing wall, in deep prayer.
3. The Pope who embraces Rabi Traff in the Synagogue of Rome, who meditates in silence and reverently in the Mosque of Damascus, who caressed the tomb of Gandhi, who listened to the Indians of Peru (because they do not have a voice).
4. He was the spokesman for human rights. The Prelate of the Anglican Church kisses the ring of the pastor...Pope Wojtyla who travels throughout the world, who uses all means of communication. The Pope who laughs with the youth, who embraces children, who plays with his cane, who admonished....such a pastor, so human! So strong and so fragile!
5. No other leader has spoken before such multitudes, no one has penetrated the heart of the people so profoundly. Even when there was no talk about "globalization" Pope Wojtyla had the necessary intuition to make the papacy universal. He did it and how he did it! All who aspire to succeed him will have to face a heavy inheritance, because after a quarter of a century of travel, no Pope will be able to stay enclosed in the Vatican, he has to be more of "a Pope of all the continents".
6. But the true nature of Pope Wojtyla, the root of his action, is found "further away", you have to dive to the bottom of his soul. John Paul II has been a mystic, it is enough to see how he prayed. When he withdrew into prayer before a holy image - preferably of the Blessed Mother - you attended an immersion in the abyss of the spirit. For him, to pray, means to abandon oneself totally, deserately, in the arms of God. His semblance changed and his gestures irradiated the news of the Spirit. From that mystical fount a total conviction of the dignity of man was born. For him, man was not only "image of God, like the Bible teaches, but also the "glory of God".

His inheritance is in the hands of the Youth

Twenty-five years that have totally changed the preception of the papcy in the eyes of the world. With him, the papacy, is not only a point of reference for Catholics, but it became a point of reference for the world, of each man of "good will".

"Do not be afraid to walk through the streets, to go to the squares of the cities and towns. It is not the time to be ashamed of the Gospel. Do not be afraid to break with the comfortable molds of a comfortable life. Young Catholics of the world, do not disillusion Christ, carry the cross in your hands, and the Word of life on your lips..."

Words are not enough to express what is lived today. I think about what the Founder of Schoenstatt stressed about "the fundamental importance of role models". Because without attractive role models, the youth, and humanity walk without a compass.

Translation: Celina M. Garza, Harlingen, Texas, USA