05:23 - 03 April 2005
remembering the holy father
i am :
SAD!
i am in mourning for our holy father, that he has passed to eternity. on his last day of life, before he went, he appointed 17 cardinals and accepted the resignation of 8 cardinals. amazing.
everything about him was amazing. fighting the nazis and living under their thumb in definance during the polish occupation in world war 2, to help liberate his country from the throes of communism as pope, he cheated death until yesterday.
he was a man of peace, and a strong leader of the church. when told of the scandals that rocked the church here in america, he gave the order to get rid of the offenders, saying that they have no place in the ministry.
the catholic church is flawed, and has its problems, like all churches do; the reason you hear about the catholic church more so than others is because it is the largest church in the world with over one billion members worldwide.
171 bishops from throughout the world will soon vote in secret for the new pontiff. only bishops under 80 years old are allowed to vote. the telephone lines will be cut, and all outside communications will cease, and the bishops will be under lock and key until at least 2/3rds of them agree on the new pope.
black smoke will appear which means that they have not agreed upon a pope; and when they do agree, white smoke will appear.
when the pope died, his residence was sealed, and his ring was broken, symbolising that the throne to st. peter is vacant.
john paul II was the 1st non italian pope in 455 years, and the second longest reigning pope since pius IX who reigned for 31 years, from 1846 to 1878, pius IX was responsible for calling the First Vatican Council - the one responsible for implementing the doctrine that popes are capable of being infallible when it comes to matters of faith and morals.
john paul had tried to steer a course between reform and tradition, often siding more strongly with the forces of tradition, much to the dismay of progressive catholics.
there may very well be no other like him in our lifetime.
Pope John Paul II has traveled to 170 countries, more than any of his predecessors.
- Some call him the "pilgrim pope."
- He has set the record for the largest Mass ever, with 1.2 million people in Dublin, Ireland, on September 30, 1979.
- He has encountered more people than any pope in history. More than 17.6 million people have attended his general audiences alone.
- He's had 737 meetings with heads of state.
- Pope John Paul II has named 482 saints.
- He has created 232 cardinals.
- No other Pope has encountered so many individuals like John Paul II: to date, more than 17,600,000 pilgrims have participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1,160). Such figure is without counting all other special audiences and religious ceremonies held [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone] and the millions of faithful met during pastoral visits made in Italy and throughout the world. It must also be remembered the numerous government personalities encountered during 38 official visits and in the 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and even the 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
HE will be missed......
