San Pedro, domingo 3 de abril, mediodía: Santo Padre, voy a tu encuentro... St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, April 3: Holy Father, here I am... Petersplatz, Sonntagmittag: Heiliger Vater, sie kommt dir entgegen... Foto: Abram © 2005

JPII, Father Alberto Eronti. Sorrow could be seen on the faces, in spirit a sense of orphanhood and helplessness. A man who loved "until he was consumed by love" can occupy such an interior space, living what St. Paul said about himself: "I will spend myself and I will consume myself for the Church"!

While in Lisbon, the news of the death of John Paul II surprised me. On Saturday afternoon I had departed from Aveiro, north of Portugal, to the capital. When we reached Fatima there was torrential rain, at that moment we recalled the profound union that the Holy Father had with the Blessed Mother, especially after the attempted assasination he suffered on that 13th of May in St. Peter's Square.

We also remembered that She had promised to "search for her children" who had celebrated the first Saturdays of each month at the time of death. Upon my arrival in Lisbon, I was invited to concelebrate the Mass at 7:00 p.m. and to preach about the Pope. At that moment I realized the value the testimony acquires in circumstances such as the ones we are living in all the Church. When the Mass ended, I began the encounter with couples that was scheduled, the theme was: "Mercy, in the thinking and feeling of John Paul II". Midway through the encounter the news arrived: "The Pope has died!" Although it was not unexpected it still struck me. Along with the sorrow there was relief -the Pope is no longer suffering! - I thought "What am I doing here when I should be in Rome?" We went to the Shrine to pray, just as it occurred in the primitive Church after the Passion and the Ascension of Jesus, we needed "to be close to Mary", the Mother of the Church. In a few minutes people began to arrive, prayer was incessant until after midnight, it seemed that to have the beads of the rosary between our fingers, was the same as holding Mary's hand.

A love that wanted to extend to all men and to each man

At that moment the television channels transmitted scenes from St. Peter's Square in Rome, from Croatia, from Fatima, from China!..., thousands of people were gathering to pray. It was an impressive movement of the Spirit. Sorrow could be seen on the faces, in spirit a sense of orphanhood and helplessness. A man who loved "until he was consumed by love" can occupy such an interior space, living what St. Paul said about himself: "I will spend myself and I will consume myself for the Church"! A great love is no longer visible in his person, so that it becomes a mission for the Church at the beginning of the third millenium. Without a doubt his papacy has had its weak points, but today those vanish before the formidable inheritance and the testimony of an immense love, that he wanted to extend to all men and to each man.

Sorrowful and hopeful prayer

Yesterday afternoon I returned to Rome. During the flight I dedicated my time to meditate on what we were living, I also took the opportunity to read the newspapers. The headlines constituted an x-ray of the person of John Paul II before my eyes. From "John Paul the Great", to "the spirit Pope"; from "pilgrim of the Gospel", to "the greatest personality in the last 100 years"; from "the giant of peace", to "he was the voice for those without a voice"; from "the Pope of the youth", to "the one who loved the poor and indigent";...Behind the headlines, adjectives and superlatives, seemed a fruitless effort: the person and the actions of this Pope could not be encompassed.

Maybe that is why the "Vacant See" seems so empty, maybe that is why the "finestra chiusa" (the closed window) of the library of the papal palace seems to be so closed. However, in the Square and the Cathedral of the world, it is not only saying "farewell", to the pastor and father, thinking about the new Pope has also begun. All of a sudden the Cardinals of the Church have obtained a new dimension, because it is in them and through them that the Spirit will have to act so that the Seat of Peter will be occupied anew and the window will be opened anew to the world for the encounter.

Today the Church is in prayer. Sorrowful and hopeful prayer. Today, just as Friday afternoon, the Church surrounds Mary, it mourns and awaits the dawn of Sunday, which will arrive when the Diaconate Cardinal announces to the world: "We have a Pope!"

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