Happy Birthday, Your Holiness!
Vatican City (AsiaNews) Today John Paul II turns 84. No official festivities are in order. However thousands of telegrams have arrived to congratulate the pontiff along with various birthday cakes which both prelates and ordinary people have prepared and sent. This is surely to be one cake on his table today: the fruit tort made be the nuns in charge of his papal apartment.
Among his birthday "presents" is today's release of John Paul II's latest literary work "Alzatevi, andiamo!" ("Get up, let's go!"), a book about his episcopal ministry containing the thoughts and teachings that accompanied him during his twenty years (1958-78) spent as bishop of Krakow. The book also contains some references to the events of his current pontificate.
"Get up, let's go!" is a book that simply explains the mission of a bishop, who he says must make efforts to be an example of faith, just as he must be one of charity, trust and full obedience to God's will by imitating Christ. The pope's book will serve as a guide for all believers.
John Paul II, who believes in his guardian angel, says he "knows what (he's) doing" and that he has "always liked singing", as well as skiing and rowing, the latter being just what he was doing upon receiving a "letter ordering him to report to Warsaw.
The pope at that time was on vacation with a group of companions (who liked to call him "uncle" in order to prevent him from being discovered by the communist regime). He recounts how that day he made his way to the station, via rowboat and a truck loaded with bags of flour, so as to catch the next train to Warsaw.
Having learned of his nomination to bishop by the Primate of Poland, John Paul II communicated the news to his archbishop, prayed the Stations of the Cross and then returned the Masuri Lake District where he had been rowing before. The pope thought that it would be his last time to enjoy the lake country, yet he writes that he managed to return there each year until 1978.
Father and Shepherd
After the chapter dedicated to his "Calling", the pope then writes 5 other chapters entitled: "The Work of a Bishop", "Scientific and Pastoral Commitment", the "The Fatherly Character of a Bishop" "Episcopal Collegiality" and finally "God and Courage". The book covers his visits to parish communities, even to the ones farthest off the beaten path. He also writes about his encounters with Polish youth, especially university students and young married couples with children. The pope reflects also on the involvement of the laity and intellectuals in spreading the Gospel, how he always listened to his priests and how his door was always left wide open to talk about their problems and ideas.
John Paul II writes that he has never felt alone. He uses this personal testimony to rebut arguments of priests who say they need to marry to fill their void of solitude. The pope constantly rejects such a thesis, while stating that the fatherly role of a bishop must apply even to the priests who have abandoned their vocation or gone wayward. This is so, the pope writes, because a bishop is also a "shepherd" - just like in Christ's parable of the Good Shepherd who, in caring for his flock, searches for even those he has lost and carries the tired and sick ones on his shoulders.
The pope refers to this parable often in his writing, reflecting that a shepherd "is there for his sheep and not the sheep for their shepherd."
Therefore the pope concludes that a flock must be led by its shepherd so as to be helped and served. The idea of service is stressed time and again throughout the pope's writing, where he leaves room even for some self-criticism. John Paul II writes that perhaps he was not always "all that in charge". He explains that this was partly due to his character, but also partly because he followed Christ's example which stressed much more a leader who serves rather than one which is served.
Fighting Against Communism
John Paul II writes that it was a duty of bishops to fight against communism, especially when it restricted the religious freedom of faithful. He writes about how he as bishop acted in the background, even when not reported, right up until the clash over the Church of Nova Huta (the small city and home to socialism which strongly stood against the Church's very presence). Still, the pope reflects, he wanted to be there and members of the local workforce were right there with him in the midst of fistfights and blows with police that ended causing many to be suffer injuries.
Yet in the end the then Cardinal Wojtyla christened the church.
At the time John Paul II had become archbishop and then was promoted to the rank of cardinal. A priest from a working class family had rise to the episcopal seat of Krakow, which was traditionally occupied by prelates of noble heritage.
The pope recalls his first official entrance as a priest into the castle-like Cathedral of Wawel, a place he had grown attached to since early childhood. In his book John Paul II painfully recalls seeing the Nazi flag fly above the building during the German Occupation in World War II. It was also there that the pope wanted to celebrate his first mass, and was able to do so at the tomb of St. Leonard while filled with thoughts of his great and dear homeland. At Wawel the pope writes that he also remembers the cross of Edwige, the queen he later canonized. The pope says he has returned to Wawel every time he has been back in Krakow.
Shakespeare, Molière and Edith Stein
The pope refers to Poland a lot in his new book. And not just in terms of the period in which the book is set. John Paul II writes that he feels deeply and inseparable a part of his country and its history. He recalls, for example, the sanctuary where he made his retreat before being ordained bishop and where, he says, he returned as a pope to give thanks for a duty he felt he had to accept. The pope admits, "Maybe it's not just me (who's like this), but everyone in Poland."
The pope recounts a few stories that predate the period to which the books is dedicated. He tells, for example, about the time when Kotlarczyk, the director of his old theater group said he was "wasting his talent" upon learning that he wanted to become a priest. The pope also tells about his love for literature as a student and young actor, when he spent hours reading Shakespeare and Molière.
He writes that he also had great fondness for philosophers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Max Sheler when learning about metaphysics and phenomenology in his studies as a priest. Finally he tells us about his deep admiration for the Jewish convert and author, Edith Stein, who later became a nun and martyr at Auschwitz, who he later had canonized and made patron of Europe.
At the end of his book, the pope encourages his readers to stay "strong in their faith". He says "the greatest defect of the apostles was their fear and lack of faith in their of their Master."
"Indeed, the pope writes, "we cannot turn our back on the truth nor stop telling about it.
"We need to bear witness to the truth, even at the risk of death, just like Jesus himself did." And just like John Paul II has done.
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