The memorial and the statues from Poland were dedicated
by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan
on May 1st, 2011, on the occasion of the beatification of John Paul II.
Writing about the greatest man of the 20th century comes as a privilege for someone born in Poland, the home country of Karol Wojtyla. This great man survived the horrors of the II World War to became John Paul II, today known as John Paul the Great - the brave pope who changed the Church forever.
This short text introduces the JPII Monument project started last year by Father John Carney with help of a group of our parishioners. By getting us close to Karol Wojtyla, the monument will help us and our children remember the wisdom and courage of this extraordinary man.
In the course of this imperfect presentation of His works that changed the
world as we know it, let me first fast-forward to Wojtyla’s first visit
to Poland as newly elected pope. In 1979 Europe was still deeply divided
and Poland was in the middle of yet another historical struggle. The State
of Poland originated a thousand years earlier, in the year 966, when the
country was baptized. Over the next millennium Poland went a long way from
becoming one of the largest European powers to collapsing under the attacks
of neighbors and being torn apart by internal conflicts. For 123 dark years
after 1795 Poland did not exist as independent country. A brief period of
20 years of freedom was enjoyed again between the IWW and IIWW. But Poland
lost her freedom again with the German – Russian invasion in September
of 1939. Loss of 10 million souls constituting 30% of the population in
the War and subsequent forced integration with Soviet empire were taking
their toll. When Pope John Paul II came to Poland in the summer of 1979,
he found his fellow countrymen in despair and the country under foreign
military occupation. Tired by almost two centuries of enslavement, the
hopeless nation's integrity and pride were collapsing. Then something
unexpected happened.
I remember those warm June days quite well. The visit of JPII was based on series of masses conducted in the open areas. The crowds were enormous! It seemed like the entire nation of 36 million people came to mass at the same time. John Paul the Great brought to us his first teaching as Pope: do not be afraid! Fear takes your freedom away. Follow the Christ, change yourself and your country for better, and in doing so - do not be afraid! During the visit he repeated the following: “let Your Spirit come and renew the face of the Earth! This Earth!”
The people of Poland understood the meaning of the words both in the spiritual and political sense. We have looked around, and counted ourselves. Suddenly there was nothing to fear, nothing seemed impossible – we were all on the same side, it seemed. The country woke up, people organized their opposition. Solidarity movement started and by 1981 we were close to getting rid of communism. Due to the fierce resistance of the communist military junta it took almost 8 more years until Poland was a free and democratic republic again. Later in 1989 the Berlin wall collapsed, and other post-communist countries of the region were liberated. The painful division of Europe was ending. There is no doubt in my mind that none of this would have happened without the Pope and his vision of facing both the personal and global problems without fear, in the spirit of betterment, and with the help of Holy Spirit.
Born in 1920 in Wadowice in South Poland, Karol Wojtyla started his studies at Jagiellonian University in 1938, a year before the II World War started. During the war he worked in a quarry, and later joined the underground seminary school. As a member of underground resistance organization he was involved in saving Jews, his “elder brothers in faith” from holocaust. This effort formed his strong devotion to ecumenism. He was ordained as priest a year after the end of WWII. Fluent in Latin, Greek, Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish, Karol Wojtyla was studying theology, teaching and writing. In his work he was mixing life experiences and dialogue with young friends and students into his own unique approach to human aspects of faith, especially theology of body, moral theology, ethics of marriage and a broader history of philosophy. Bishop from 1958 and archbishop five years later, was nominated a cardinal in 1967 and elected Pope on October 16, 1978.
Karol Wojtyla not only inspired the nations to freedom, but was himself brave in his actions and opinions. Examples include his participation in Vaticanum Secundum where his thinking influenced the revolutionary, person-oriented changes in the Church. Theology of the body was a topic that Wojtyla was working on for years as a priest and bishop trekking the mountains of South Poland with young couples and students. Not only the topic was unusual for the Church, but the very idea that sexuality can be of interest to theology not as another breeding ground for sin, but rather as the emanation of love and responsibility in marriage, was ground-breaking. Then the Pope did something even more outstanding.
After the assassination attempt in 1981 Wojtyla's iron health of a highlinder was slowly declining. He embraced Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her approach to sick and poor, through deep understanding of the value of suffering. Especially in his last 10 years we could all see the suffering becoming an inherent part of his message. But in 1983 he went to visit his imprisoned assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, offering forgiveness, prayers and support. He then met with Agca’s mother and brother. We struggled to understand those extraordinary acts of love. Once again, Wojtyla was giving us all an important lesson by doing something never done before.
Science is close to our hearts in Los Alamos, a most typical American parish with a largest number of PhDs per square foot. There seems to be a lot of confusion in the world about the opposition of faith and reason. Karol Wojtyla was strongly supporting the view that modern science is actually in no conflict with faith. In his official Vatican document “Fides et Ratio” (Faith and Reason) Wojtyla outlined what is now the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church: “..faith and reason are like two wings, upon which the human spirit ascends to the contemplation of the Truth”. The two areas of human activity, faith and reason, are parts of who we are, not conflicting, but complementing each other. It is worth noting here that John Paul II wrote a total of 14 such documents on matters of official importance to the doctrine of faith, in addition to 41 apostolic letters, numerous other official documents and 18 books. And then, as if the philosophical and theological work was not revolutionary enough, John Paul II again did something never before done in the history of Church. Something for which we, in this parish, should be especially grateful.
In 1992, eyes of the world were focused on Vatican to witness an unprecedented event. Pope John Paul II, in the name of the whole Church, said: “we are sorry” for the errors in judgment and wrongdoing on the part of the Church, specifically in the case of Galileo Galilei. This act of expiation was necessary to fulfill the promise of the complementary nature of faith and reason. The announcement, facing certain amount of resistance from the traditionals inside the Church, was both revolutionary and brave. It cleared the way for ending the conflict between “fides” and “ratio”.
But the strong highlander from the mountains of South Poland was not done yet. The revolutionary works continued in year 2000, when he noted the sins of the Church against the Jews. For the first time, anti-Semitism was recognized as opposing Christianity. He was the first Pope ever to visit the synagogue or participate in prayers of few dozens of world religions.
Children and youth have always been close to Wojtyla's heart. He would
invent and attend the Catholic Youth meetings around the world, and he was
loved by young people who seek and need a trustworthy Father.
Sketch of the proposed monument
The idea of the Monument in our parish was born from admiration of this
special relationship between the Pope and the youth. The monument, as shown
in attached figure, will encompass the praying Pope and two kids looking at
Him. It is not easy to be a kid these days, with distractions available on
every corner. Young people find it especially difficult to stay focused on
what is important. The figure of the praying Pope is a symbol of great power
of prayer and thought. The kids are finding support in him and are trusting
his wisdom. In the vicinity of the figures we will find place to sit down and
join in prayer or rest, have a picnic, lunch or an outdoors meeting. Location
of the Monument along the route between High School and town if frequented by
students every day, and the Monument will be an inspiration for them. While
we await the beatification process to be finalized in the Fall of 2010,
we are aiming at having the monument erected by this time.
In his last years, the Pope was very sick. We saw the old, suffering man, bended down under the heavy load of pain. Some would say that he perhaps should retire and enjoy his last years without the burden of steering the ship of Church. Then the Pope gave us his last lesson.
While watching his last days, his futile attempts to speak, the decision to return to Vatican from the hospital, and finally the funeral, I was moved by his actions like never before. I was thinking about my own parents and other old and ill people. About the right to live and to be loved. About the value of suffering. About the value of noble, peaceful death. I am still contemplating this last, most difficult lesson.
During the funeral, the book of New Testament was placed on the coffin. The wind was strong, and it was browsing through the pages of the good book for a while. At some point the stronger gust came and closed the book's cover.
We want the book of life of John Paul the Great to be open for us and for the next generations. We want our children to reflect on this source of wisdom and faith. We are now in the process of ordering the statue in Poland, and we are collecting funds to support landscaping and building the monument area. Your contributions should be addressed to “JPII Monument” either on the check or on the envelope.
Thank you all for your support. And: do not be afraid!