How typical of the heroic Pope John Paul II that he would hold on long enough to see us through Holy Week; that he would use such strong words in his defense of a dying Terri Schiavo.

How like this "Pope of the People" that even in failing strength he kept coming to the window of his Vatican apartment to bless the pilgrims.

The life of Pope John Paul II has been a courageous one that made a difference for so many.

Frail as he was back in 2002 when he came to Toronto for Youth Day, the Holy Father charmed throngs of young people, who had traveled from across the globe in the tens of thousands just to get a glimpse of him. Their chant: "John Paul II, we love you," will forever resonate in human memory.

The pontiff was never afraid to brave an increasingly secular world, once saying of the 1981 assassin’s bullet that wounded him, "It was aimed by one person but guided by another," in an open credit to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And that road started a long time ago in a faraway place called Nowa Huta, where as Bishop Karol Wojtyla he was leading Mass in open fields, in the face of brutal communism.

The struggle to build the Nowa Church is one of the great clashes between the Catholic Church and Communists in post-war Poland. According to a John Paul II biography posted on the Vatican website, "It is a small gem of a story, multifaceted, 20 years in the making." . . . .

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In the arms of the angels

by Judi McLeod, Editor
Friday, April 1, 2005

How typical of the heroic Pope John Paul II that he would hold on long enough to see us through Holy Week; that he would use such strong words in his defense of a dying Terri Schiavo.

How like this "Pope of the People" that even in failing strength he kept coming to the window of his Vatican apartment to bless the pilgrims.

The life of Pope John Paul II has been a courageous one that made a difference for so many.

Courage and dignity paved the pontiff’s road to the Vatican.

And that road started a long time ago in a faraway place called Nowa Huta, where as Bishop Karol Wojtyla he was leading Mass in open fields, in the face of brutal communism.

"Nowa Huta was a brand new town built by the Communists in the early `50s outside of Krakow. The town was in Bishop Karol Wojtla’s jurisdiction. It was meant to be a workers’ paradise, built on Communist principles, a visible rebuke to the `decadent’, spiritually besotted Krakow. The regime assumed, that the workers, of course would be atheists, so the town would be built without a church. But the people soon made it clear they did want one. Wojtyla communicated their desire, and the regime opposed it.

In the steady tug of war between the Communist Party and the people, the Party reluctantly issued a permit in 1958, only to withdraw it again in 1962.

"Years went by as Karol Wojtyla joined by other priests—especially Father Gorlaney—met with authorities and patiently filed and refiled for building permits. Crosses were put up in the designated area and then pulled down at night, only to mysteriously reappear weeks later.

"Meanwhile, Bishop Wojtyla and other priests gave sermons in the open field, winter and summer, under a burning sun, in freezing rain and snow. "Year after year, Wojtyla celebrated Christmas Mass at the site where the church was supposed to be built. Thousands peacefully lined up for communion but tension was building.

"By this time, the Communists, local leaders, residents and Catholic Church had dug in, their positions seemingly intractable. The Communists’ compromise to allow a church to be built outside the town was ejected—until Karol Wojtyla, the realist, the negotiator broke the stalemate, persuading everyone that the existence of the church transcended all other considerations. The time to bend was now.

"In May 1977, one year before he became Pope—almost 20 years after the first request for a permit—Karol Wojtyla consecrated the church as Nowa Huta.

"What the worshippers were most proud of—and it was a symbol Karol Wojtyla helped make into a reality—is the gigantic crucifix that hangs over the new altar. It was made out of shrapnel that had been taken from the wounds of Polish soldiers, collected and sent from all over the country to make the sculpture in the new church.

In his own way, the humble Polish bishop had won out over the Communists.

"From the first day of his election, John Paul II’s pontificate raised concern in Central Committee headquarters. The Canadian reporter, Eric Margolis, described it this way: `I was the first Western journalist inside the KGB headquarters in 1990. The generals told me that the Vatican and the Pope above all was regarded as their number one, most dangerous enemy in the world,’ says the Vatican biography.

"Again and again, people told us that it was John Paul II’s 1979 trip (to Poland) that was the fulcrum of revolution which led to the collapse of Communism. Timothy Garton Ash put it this way: `Without the Pope, no Solidarity, Without Solidarity, no Gorbachev. Without Gorbachev, no fall of Communism. (`In fact, Gorbachev himself gave the Kremlin’s long-term enemy this due: `It would have been impossible without the Pope.’"

"It took time; it took the Pope’s support from Rome—some of it financial; it took several more trips in 1983 an 1987. But the flame was lit. It would smolder and flicker before it burned from one end of Poland to the other. Millions of people spread the revolution, but it began with the Pope’s trip home in 1979. As General Jaruzelski said, `That was the detonator.’"

Behind the white robes of John Paul II, there will always be Karol Wojtyla.

On this trip home, there is much joy in heaven where the angels, who allow us to share Pope John Paul II in memory, await Karol Wojtyla with open arms.

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