“Fear Not!”
On April 2, worshippers worldwide were deeply saddened by the news of the Roman Pope John Paul II’s passing. An outstanding personality, he had a tremendous reformative and beneficial influence both on the Catholic Church and on the life, philosophy, politics, and morals of the contemporary world. During the many years of his pontificate, John Paul II made a far-reaching contribution to the transformation of the global society and played a role in the fall of communist regimes. All efforts of this great humanist of our time were aimed at improving people’s lives and souls, their religions, creeds, and social status notwithstanding. John Paul II encouraged not only faith in God, but also dignity and self-respect. His famous epic “Fear Not!” calls on the people to resist evil, darkness, and political devilry. He always kept his hand on the pulse of mankind, immediately responding with assistance to those in need. John Paul II was a bright, optimistic, and attractive personality, always smiling and open to life. He loved art and nature. He read a great deal, wrote poetry, and practiced sports when his health still permitted him to do so. Yet people were his main interest. In the nearly 27 years of his pontificate he met with an estimated 17 million people of different nationalities, races, and religions.
Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope, the head of the world’s largest Christian Church that unites over 1 billion Catholics, on October 16, 1978. According to custom, he received a new name, made up of the names of his two papal predecessors, Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, whom he deeply respected and whose reforms he indented to continue. The election of the “Polish Pope” created an international sensation, because he came from behind the Iron Curtain and was the first Slav ever to ascend the papal throne, which before him was occupied almost exclusively by Italians. Such was the 263rd Pope in the long history of Catholicism. Roman Popes have a lengthy official title that reads “Bishop of Rome and Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of Vatican City.” However, the title of “The Servant of God’s Servants” seems to be most fitting for John Paul II.
Most memorable for Ukrainians was Pope’s visit to Kyiv and Lviv in 2001. Ukrainian citizens, their faith notwithstanding, viewed this visit as one of the most significant and brightest events in Ukraine’s modern history, while for Ukrainian Catholics and Greek-Catholics it was a big and joyful holiday.
Only one of the Pope’s longtime dreams, a visit to Moscow, was not destined to come true. The Moscow Patriarchate categorically ruled out any possibility of such a visit.
The history of relations between Catholicism and Orthodoxy has been very dramatic. After the birth of Jesus Christ and for many centuries these churches were part of a single Christian Church, but ended up as bitter enemies. For the first time in a millennium the Roman Pope made a number of visits to Orthodox countries and communicated with Orthodox Christians. This might eventually help the churches of the West and East to get back onto friendly terms. Both churches live according to their own chronologies that are somewhat behind time. But there is hope that the brave steps of rapprochement taken by John Paul II will soften the religious climate on the planet.
In Luigi Accattoli’s book, When a Pope Asks Forgiveness: The Mea Culpas of John Paul II, we come across a selection of the Pope’s 25 public statements that begin with the words “I ask forgiveness.” Among the events for which the Roman Pope asks forgiveness are the Crusades, Catholic Church’s condemnation of Galileo and Martin Luther, etc. The Pope also asked forgiveness for his Church’s silence in the face of the mass extermination of Jews by the Third Reich. Many Catholic bishops disagreed with such a position because they did not wish to “shift the blame for the mistakes of individual church hierarchs onto the essentially sinless Church.” The Pope, however, followed the voice of his conscience.
The body of the Roman Pope John Paul II now lies in state for public visitation at the St. Peter’s Cathedral, while thousands of mourning pilgrims, who flocked to Rome from around the globe to pay their last respects to the Pope, are keeping vigil near the cathedral day and night. According to the mass media, over 2 million Catholics have come to Rome. The Poles in particular have been saddened by the death of Karol Wojtyla, the Great Polish Pope. They cherish hopes that the Vatican will agree to bury John Paul II in his native Poland, in Krakow, and not in the crypt of the St. Peter’s Cathedral. Not only Poles, but also Catholics of other countries are certain that John Paul II will be canonized, i.e., officially declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, cardinals from around the globe have already converged on the Vatican to elect a new Roman Pope two or three weeks from now. Among them are two Ukrainian cardinals. They are the Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Liubomyr Huzar, and the head of the Catholic Church in Ukraine, Archbishop Maryan Yavorsky. It seems that with the passing of the Slavic Pope the Vatican might lose its special interest in Ukrainian Greek Catholics, a small part of the Catholic Church. But maybe because of this indifference the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church might eventually gain the long-sought status of a Patriarchate.
