John Paul II: a great Pope, a great saint!

The charism of the Pope

03/04/2005

A great Pope, a great saint has truly left us! Oh how I long for the return of a time when sanctity was proclaimed by popular demand. The young people would be first in line!

His holiness. I too can testify to this from personal experience. Often, after an audience with him, I felt that heaven had opened up. I felt that I was directly linked up to God in the most profound union with Him and without any intermediary. And this is because the Pope is a mediator but when he has joined you to God he disappears. He uses the keys to open up heaven for us not just through cancelling our sins but also through facilitating our union with God.

How else can you perhaps explain that joy, that enthusiasm, that appeal that the Pope has always exerted on young people, on the millions of men and women of every race, culture, religion and creed that he has met all over the world? How else can you explain the complete turnabouts in history for which he has been instrumental over the last 27 years? This Pope communicated God and He “makes all things new”. As he became more and more burdened by suffering, this communication of God’s presence became stronger and stronger right to the last moment of his life.

However in this moment I have to also express my deepest thanks for the many other doors opened by those keys: the Pope has always thrown the doors wide open to the novelties of the Spirit which he has recognised too in our Movement, by giving his continuous encouragement and support and by acknowledging the Movement as a gift of God and hope for humanity.