Nine Days That Changed The World [Yea, it's Newt's documentary, but again a history lesson, not politics.]
Pope John Paul II (the Great)
Posted on 04/29/2011 5:48:44 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross
One of the greatest moments in the history of faith was also one of the greatest moments in modern political history. It happened in June 1979.
Just eight months before, after dusk on Oct. 16, 1978, a cardinal had stepped out onto the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to say those towering, august words, "Habemus papem"—"We have a pope." The cardinal pronounced the new pontiff's name in Latin. Not everyone understood or could hear him, and the name sounded odd. For 456 years the church had been electing Italian popes. This didn't sound Italian. The crowd was perplexed.
Then the new pope came out—burly, light-haired, broad cheekbones. He looked Slavic. He looked like a Pole! It was Karol Wojtylwa, the cardinal from Krakow. It was a breakthrough choice—so unexpected and unprecedented—and you knew as you watched that a whole new world was beginning. This was a former manual laborer who wore brown scruffy shoes, who was young (58) and vibrant (a hiker and kayaker). He was a writer, an intellectual who'd come up during the heroic era of the European priesthood, when to be a priest in a communist-controlled nation was to put not only your freedom at risk but your life.
Poland went wild with joy; Krakow took to the streets. The reaction was world-wide. They had vigils in the Polish neighborhoods of Chicago, and block parties in Boston.
***
And here is the great moment of faith that became a great moment of history. John Paul II, naturally, wanted to return as pope to visit his homeland. This put the communist government in Warsaw in a bind. If they didn't invite him, they'd look defensive and weak. If they did, he might spark an uprising that would trigger a Soviet invasion ...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Nine Days That Changed The World [Yea, it's Newt's documentary, but again a history lesson, not politics.]
Pope John Paul II (the Great)
ping
It’s really irritating to go the the website referenced from the except only to find that you must sign up or subscribe to the service to read the full article. I’d guess that most people won’t do this. Fewer hurdles, please.
save
“Make Him A Saint”
It isn’t up to us.
You cannot “make” someone a saint. The Apostles couldn’t even do that. A “saint” is simply a follower of Christ and the Bible makes that infinitely clear.
And a typo.
The Church doesn’t “make” saints, it recognizes them.
Here’s the full article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291513299466454.html
But it was what happened a week later, at the Blonie field outside Krakow, that led directly to 1989, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. That was the event that made political history.
It was June 10, near the end of the trip. Everyone was tired. There was to be a last outdoor mass. The government had not allowed it to be publicized. But words spread, and two million people came, maybe three million. It was the biggest gathering in Polish history. Here John Paul took on communism more directly. He exhorted the crowd to receive the Holy Spirit. “I speak . . . for St. Paul: Do not quench the Spirit. . . . I speak again for St. Paul: Do not grieve the Spirit of God!”
“You must be strong, my brothers and sisters. You must be strong with the strength that faith gives. . . . You need this strength today more than any other period in our history. . . . You must be strong with love, which is stronger than death. . . . Never lose your spiritual freedom.”
The mass was stirring, with crowds saying, again, “We want God!” But here is the thing. Everyone at that mass went home and put on state-controlled television to see the coverage of the great event. They knew millions had been there, they knew what was said, they knew everyone there was part of a spiritual uprising. But state-run TV had nothing. State-run TV had a few people in the mud and a picture of the pope.
Everyone looked at the propaganda of the state, at its lack of truthfulness and its disrespect for reality, and they thought: It’s all lies. Everything the government says is a lie. The government itself is a lie.
In Peggy’s defense, the title is not quite her admonition, but a translation of the crowds’ cry at JPII’s funeral:
And when he died, there was the miracle of the crowds. John Paul had been old and dying for a long time, and the Vatican knew he’d been forgotten. They didn’t plan for crowds.
But when he died, people came running. They dropped what they were doing and filled the streets of Rome, they got on trains and plans and Rome was engulfed.
Four million people came.
They travelled from every country in Europe and beyond, they had nowhere to sleep, they filled the streets carrying candles.
There had never been anything like it. Old Rome had seen its popes come and go, but the crowds came and wouldn’t leave until he was buried. And when his coffin was carried out and shown to them, they roared.
“Santo Subito!” they said. Make him a saint.
And now this weekend he will be beatified, a step toward sainthood. He will become Blessed John Paul the Second, and nobody will misunderstand his name.
Thank you very much for this good link and your other contributions to the thread. Unfortunately, I could only post and run this morning.
It is those times when we were blessed with Pope John Paul II, Reagan and Thatcher that I think of when I get discouraged today.
“Santo Subito!” they said. Make him a saint.
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