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Beloved Pontiff www.archden.org SPECIAL EDITION April 6, 2005, Volume LXXXI – No. 13 Beloved Pontiff IN LOVING MEMORY Pope John Paul II 1920-2005 FILE PHOTO BY JAMES BACA/DCR Record-breaking papacy The world mourns WYD memories Local faithful grieve PAGES 2-6 PAGES 8-9 PAGES 12-13 PAGES 14-15 2 l IN LOVING MEMORY: POPE JOHN PAUL II APRIL 6, 2005 l DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER ARCHBISHOP’S COLUMN MOST REV. CHARLES J. CHAPUT O.F.M. CAP. The Risen Christ is the reason for our hope Pontiff showed us to trust in the Lord’s Divine Mercy This column has been adapted from the archbishop’s homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, which honored Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II lived every moment and every choice as a seed of eternity; and the world is a different place because of it. That’s how he wanted us to live. And that’s why he reminded us, again FILE PHOTO BY JAMES BACA/DCR and again, of the sacredness of the Lord’s Day. On this day, in this POPE JOHN PAUL II greets attendees of World Youth Day 1993 at Cherry Creek State Park in Denver. Mass and in Masses all over the world, we find the one true reason for our hope. Jesus is Lord! Jesus is risen! Death has no sting! What remains to us is to trust as John Paul trusted, and to live as he lived. The first reading tonight tells us what Christian trust means. The first Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apos- Fearless, record-breaking tles.” They trusted the apostles. They trusted the Word of God, and they acted on it. Their faithfulness is the foundation of our Church today. They committed themselves “to the communal life, to the breaking of bread” and to prayer. They trusted each other and Pope John Paul II dies shared what they had with the poor. They supported each other with joy and sincerity of heart. In other words, they loved each other, and that love became a magnet that drew others. “The Lord BY ROXANNE KING added to their number” and through them soul by soul, God re- shaped the ancient world. Pope John Paul II, the third- The secret to that early Christian love was the experience of longest serving pontiff in history God’s mercy. St. Peter describes it in the second reading. He tells us and the one who led the Church that God “in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope into the third millennium, died through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” The April 2. He was 84. Responsorial Psalm reminds us of the same thing three times: The pope had developed a high “(God’s) mercy endures forever;” which is why the Psalmist can fever March 31 and suffered septic also say,” “My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has shock and heart failure related to a been my savior.” urinary tract infection. The follow- For the early Christians, God’s mercy created hope, and hope ing day his condition worsened as created joy — and these things together moved their hearts to love thousands kept vigil in St. Peter’s one another, and to bring others into a community of love. The Square. Vatican officials said he sign of that love was showing mercy to others as God had shown died at 9:37 p.m. Rome time mercy to them. Saturday. As the world watched In the Old Testament, God told the Prophet Isaiah, “... my and prayed, the pontiff endured thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, his suffering to the end with digni- says the Lord” (Is 55:8). Mercy is the deepest example of what God ty, grace and courage. meant when he said this. Mercy is love that goes beyond fairness. The record-breaking pope laid Fairness would not have saved us. If God’s justice were like human the foundation for the Church well justice, we’d all be condemned, because we’re all sinners. We’re into the new millennium, leading caught in a web of sins against each other and debts we owe to some to call him “John Paul the each other. We can never make that right by demanding what we Great.” think is “fair,” because the same judgment we place on others, He began his pontificate with somebody else can rightly place on us. We therefore need to be the words, “Be not afraid. Open much more than just “fair” to others. wide the doors for Christ,” and Real justice, God’s justice, flows from mercy. Mercy is an expres- fearlessly lived them — even sur- sion of God’s Fatherhood, his greatness, which has the power of viving an assassination attempt — forgiving us freely and is beyond natural understanding. Only as he gave witness to the Christian CNS PHOTO when we forgive and show this same mercy to others, can we claim life and became, as George Weigel to be disciples of Christ. THE POPE holds a candle during the Easter Vigil at St. Peter's described in the title to his papal Basilica April 19, 2003. In the Gospel today, Jesus shows mercy to his apostles for their biography, a “Witness to Hope.” fear and betrayal with the words, “Peace be with you.” Then he His pontificate influenced shows mercy to Thomas for his doubts. He then extends that mercy among young people, pursued O.F.M. Cap. “He knew personal political events — including the ecumenism, sought to heal suffering throughout his life. He to all of us by creating the sacrament of mercy — the sacrament of fall of communism in Eastern penance — by telling them, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven Catholic-Jewish relations and experienced the cost of war, geno- Europe — renewed evangelization served as the world’s moral voice. cide and political oppression first- them.” among Catholics, particularly God called Pope John Paul II home yesterday, on the vigil of “Pope John Paul II embodied hand. These things never dented the greatest qualities of the Second his faith. They did the opposite. Divine Mercy Sunday, which he established in the Jubilee Year. I ON THE COVER don’t think that’s an accident. I think it was a gift to him and to us. Vatican Council: a deep fidelity to They led him more deeply into the Throughout his priesthood, the Holy Father had a special devotion POPE JOHN PAUL II greets Jesus Christ and his Gospel; pro- heart of God. to God’s mercy, and his whole life embodied it. thousands at McNichol's found confidence and joy in the “John Paul will be remembered God’s mercy was the source of John Paul’s joy, and it remains the Arena Aug. 14, 1993, for an Catholic faith; an openness to the as an intellect with few rivals on source of our own. And mercy is at the heart of the words Jesus event sponsored by the good in the world; fraternal love the world stage — secular or reli- spoke to each of us: “I am the resurrection and the life, he who be- Archdiocese of Denver for other Christians and the Jewish gious — but also a man of humor, lieves in me, though he should die, yet will he live” (Jn 11:25). May welcoming the pontiff to people; and a respect for all per- courage, warmth, simplicity and God grant our Holy Father, and us, that eternal life and happiness. World Youth Day. sons of good will,” said Denver astonishing energy,” he continued. Archbishop Charles Chaput, “He had a tremendous dedication DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER l APRIL 6, 2005 IN LOVING MEMORY: POPE JOHN PAUL II l 3 Sint” (“That They May Be One”), and an apostolic letter “Orientale Lumen” (“The Light of the East”), on those relations. Notable GUEST COLUMN achievements with the Jewish community include Vatican recog- MOST REV. nition of Israel, condemnations of anti-Semitism and apologies for JOSÉ H. GOMEZ, S.T.D. Christian misdeeds against Jews. In 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, he made a historic visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. He was the first pope to have visited a synagogue and a mosque. The legacy of a The Russian Orthodox Church, however, accused him of encroaching on its territory when pope who embodied he moved to rebuild Catholic com- munities in Russia. And Pope John faith and hope Paul II never realized his dream of visiting Moscow. Although respectful of other Time will reveal full impact of John faiths, he always preached the Paul II’s long, fruitful pontificate Gospel of Christ. In the document “Dominus Iesus” (The Lord Jesus”) John Paul II, the embodiment of faith, the pontiff who conquered the he emphasized that Christ is the world with his powerful message of faith and hope, can say now with St. unique savior for all people. Paul: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the A hallmark of his papacy was to faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the serve as initiator and protagonist Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, of the “new evangelization” for the but to all who have longed for his appearance” (2 Tim 4:7-8). new millennium, in which he The father of the Church, the universal shepherd, has been called CNS PHOTO FROM REUTERS urgently exhorted all the faithful to home to our heavenly Father.
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