By Dr. Dencio S. Acop
“Totus Tuus”! These were the words in Latin that marked the papacy of now one of our greatest popes, Saint John Paul II. They signified his consecrated devotion to Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christendom is now beginning to refer to him as (Saint) John Paul, The Great! A summary of John Paul II’s life exemplifies one of the fullest lived on earth. Moreover, his is an example of a visibly holy life amidst the chaos of modern-day realities. He was truly a saint of our times. One of the youngest popes (at 58) and the first non-Italian to be pope since Adrian VI (16th century), Karol Jozef Wojtyla led the Catholic Church from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005. His service marked the third longest by a pope, after Pius IX and St. Peter. During his almost thirty-year pontificate, he visited practically every country in the world spreading the love of Jesus Christ but also advancing unity amidst the diversity using his credible character and charisma to do so. John Paul II was a wounded healer whose bodily scars from an assassin’s bullet, early loss of his parents, and traumas suffered under the Nazis and Communists only made him more Christ-like. There are those who ask, “Why didn’t the cruelties that touched him for most of his life not turn him bitter or angry, as pointed out by Fr. Jason Worley? He was instead meek and gentle as a lamb. He was kind and humble, reaching down to the flock where he was needed most. When he was old and dying, his last words were, “Let me go to the Father’s house.”
What is Saint John Paul teaching us today? In the world, there are some people who seem to be angry all the time! Angry at the world! Angry at life! Why? If there is anyone who deserves to be angry, one of them should very well be Karol Jozef Wojtyla. In 1929, Karol lost his mother, Emilia, at the tender age of nine. Then, only three years later in 1932, he lost his brother, Edmund, at age twelve. In 1941, Karol again lost his only remaining family – his father, Karol, Sr., with whom he was very close, when he was only 21. During World War II, he endured the Nazi occupation of Poland for the entire duration of German rule from late 1939 until the Soviet liberation of Krakow in early 1945. After the Nazis closed down his university, Karol was forced to work as a manual laborer, working in a limestone quarry and a chemical factory. He studied for the priesthood in a clandestine, underground seminary in Krakow, as the Nazis forbade any religious teaching. Karol participated in an underground theatrical resistance movement to keep Polish culture alive during the occupation. He narrowly escaped capture by the Gestapo during a 1944 sweep by hiding in his uncle’s basement. Karol, who grew up near a Jewish community in his hometown of Wadowice, aided and protected Jews during the war. From the Nazis, the Communists took over Poland and Karol and the Polish people had to endure once again another foreign occupier. Communist rule in Poland was a long 32 years — from the time the Communists solidified their power after World War II until Karol’s election as pope in 1978. As a priest, auxiliary bishop, and archbishop in Poland, Fr. Wojtyla continuously resisted and challenged the communist regime through cultural and religious efforts. Instead of getting angry at God and moving away from Him for all the sufferings he endured in life, Karol instead chose to not become angry and, in fact, moved even closer to God.
When Pope Benedict XVI succeeded Pope John Paul II, he referred to his predecessor as “the great pope”! For, indeed, John Paul II truly accomplished much as head of the 1.2 billion–strong Catholic Church and as a citizen of the world. He played a significant role in the fall of communism in his native Poland and Eastern Europe, inspiring the Solidarity Movement and always advocating human dignity. He promoted world peace in every turn, advocating against violence and seeking reconciliation among different faiths and nations, calling for “No more war, war never again!” He was a strong champion for the dignity of all people and met with millions of pilgrims and many government leaders through his extensive travels. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992, writing numerous encyclicals and apostolic exhortations. He reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, updating them for the modern era. He canonized more saints than any pope in history and beatified more people than any previous pope. He made unprecedented public, formal apologies for past wrongs committed by Catholics, including toward Jews and Muslims. His magnanimity converted even his own assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, from Islam to Christianity. He emphasized the primacy of the family as the domestic church and the primary school of the Gospel, warning that a society will be judged by how it treats its weakest members; and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and dying. He created World Youth Day, a large-scale global gathering for young Catholics. Indeed, John Paul the Great had a profound impact on the modern world through his charismatic leadership and philosophical writings.
In sum, Karol Wojtyla’s life story is about finding God’s meaning to our lives through our own individual life’s journey in this world. How do we find this meaning given all the hurts, pains, and sufferings that happen to us in the world? Sometimes, it seems so easy to just give in and give up. Someone once said that he always knew the right path but never took it, because it was too damn hard. Do we get angry then? Should we get even? Do we compete, conquer, and must always win? Karol’s life gives us a perfect example of how it is to live in this current world. His is one of the worst lives one can have in terms of what people are dealt with whether they deserve it or not. Yet, what was Karol’s response to the many sufferings he was dealt with? Having lost everything, he turned even more away from himself, his afflictions, and moved towards surrendering himself to God. It is said that the full measure of a life is in how much of it was given away. Well, Karol gave until there was nothing left to give. His selflessness and indomitable spirit inspired many. Former agnostics became priests. Atheists became believers. Nominal Christians became practicing. I had once protected him when he came to my country, the Philippines, for World Youth Day in 1995. I was literally touched by him. A short video of his life in the Saint John Paul II Shrine in Washington, D.C. always makes me teary-eyed when I see it. Asked why he always got up early, he said: “I like to see the sun rise.”