My mind goes back nearly 26 years ago, when I had the luck to shake hands with John Paul II. He was barely one year at the Vatican then, and was so young and dynamic.
It was a very windy day, and I recall so vividly his robes flying around him, as he strode across Vatican square, genuinely anxious meet those who had come to see this enigmatic Pole. For want of something intelligent to say at that moment, I asked him to put Sri Lanka on his itinerary. Something John Paul did many years later, as he became the most travelled Pope in history, reaching out to all religions and nationalities.
Our prayers are with him tonight.
John Paul II was a moral and spiritual center point of the modern world. Whilst some of his views were debatable, his passing leaves an enormous vacuum. His will be a hard act to follow and the Catholic Church will need to be bold in it’s election of a new head.
Posted by: Joey Caspersz | Monday, April 04, 2005 at 04:31 AM