Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Legacy of beloved pontiff extolled

By Lilia Borlongan-Alvarez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:44:00 03/27/2009

Filed Under: Religions

MANILA, Philippines – Unknown to many Catholics, the life of the late Karol Wojtyla, whose papacy changed the 20th century, was filled with telling anecdotes. For his fourth death anniversary (on April 2), we remember some of them with fondness:

Many recall that Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt at St. Peter’s Square by a Turkish gunman on May 13, 1981, but few know that when Karol was only 9 years old, he was almost shot by a policeman, whose bullet missed him by only a few inches.

Factory

He was also nearly killed when he was working in a chemical factory in his native Poland: On his way home late one evening, a German army truck hit him, and left him comatose in a ditch—until a woman found him! (He recuperated three weeks later.) Also, in 1982, four years into his pontificate, a deranged man tried to stab him during a visit to Fatima in Portugal, but was stopped by security men.

When he became archbishop, he wore his crumpled hat and neatly pressed but faded cassock. “His shirts had been mended so many times they were nearly patchwork. Though he received gifts continually, he gave almost all of them away, not for lack of gratitude, but because he had no understanding of accumulation,” reveal Msgr. Virgilio Levi and Christine Allison in the book, “John Paul II: A Tribute in Words and Pictures,”

As a Cardinal, he had an inkling that he was being eyed as a papal candidate, but “he engaged in the process with humility.” In 1964, he, who was becoming known as a progressive intellectual and moral theologian, shocked the Vatican Council by being the first speaker ever to address the convocation with a greeting to his “brothers and sisters,” paying homage to the women who were also present. On Oct. 16, 1978, he was elected the 264th pope.

During his first press conference in Rome, the youthful 58-year-old pontiff fielded questions in eight languages.

And the Filipino Catholic could never forget his first visit to the country in 1981 when he greeted the youth gathered at UST with: “Mga ginigiliw kong kabataan ng Maynila…”

Certain memorable moments are hard to forget: One of them took place during his coronation, where thousands streamed into St. Peter’s Square. Levi and Allison’s book recalls: “(During) his speech, he looked into the soul of each human being, and said, ‘Be…not…afraid!” Then, a strange thing happened: Grown men began to weep, nuns buried their faces in their hands, and jaded photographers dabbed their eyes.” Another heart-rending event was his 20-minute meeting with his Turkish assassin, whom he forgave.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 1:49 PM