Spiritual Notes of Robert
Four blessed popes 1958-2005
at
Home2b.nl
1958-1963 John XXIII
1963-1978 Paul VI
1978 John Paul I
1978-2005 John Paul the Great
Totus
tuus.
During 47 years the Roman
Catholic Church has had
the blessing of wise and
religious men,
who were able to bring more
world peace,
more human rights, more
willingness for
dialog with other religions.
I remember the day that John
XXIII
was called out to be pope.
Vatican watchers were expecting
no miracles from the cardinal
of Venice.
How wrong they were.
After being carried into the
Saint Peter cathdral,
he abolished many overdone
ceremonies.
At last a pope understood why
John Hus from Prague
rejected the old faith in
1412.
At the time Hus was burned and
the verdict stated him
to be a follower of Wycliff
(which he was without doubt,
something to be proud of!).
This verdict on John Hus and him being burned
became an avalanche called
Reformation
and Protestant churches.
Is this why cardinal Roncalli
from Venice
called himself John XXIII,
exactly the same name
as the pope who condemned John
Hus in 1412?
I think so, because John XXIII
did the same
as the former John XXIII had
done in 1409,
which is calling together a
concilium, Vaticanum II.
Vaticanum II was a miracle of enormous significance,
because Vaticanum II was the
start of
a new beginning for the
church.
John XXIII died as maybe the
most popular men ever.
John XXIII has been beatified
not so long ago.
Certainly he he has to be
called out a saint
Paul VI had the difficult task
to fulfill
Vaticanum II and he did in
1965!!
The result was and is again a miracle.
Did you read the documents of
Vaticanum II?
Those documents are so
refreshing.
Paul VI started to travel.
Famous are his visits to the United
Nations (1965)
and the Holy Land (1964).
Paul VI visited all continents and called out
for World Peace and Social
Justice.
In 1971 in Manilla they tried
to kill him, but he survived.
Paul VI also did away with
much overdone ceremonies.
In 1971 Paul VI recognized
Mother Theresa from Calcutta
as a living saint,
by giving her the John XXIII
peace price.
1978 was the year of John Paul
I.
He reigned 34 days as a pope.
Many people have expressed
doubts about his death.
All we know is, that we missed the opportunity
to know this very special man
and his abilities.
It seems that he started some
reforms.
In my opinion we were left behind as orphans
by this untimely death. People
are asking
for his beatification too.
If there has been any evil in
the death of John Paul I,
it has been revanched by the miracles
done by John Paul II,the
Great, the man from Poland,
who has called out for World
Peace,
for reconciliation, who said
sorry to everybody
done wrong by Christianity.
His respect for other
religions
was shown in the praying
together of
many religions in a circle of
holyness.
John Paul II escaped an attack
upon his life in 1981.
In his healthy years he was a
great man.
In his illness John Paul II
was even greater.
John Paul II showed us how to
live in pain,
with his replaced hip, his
painful knees,
his illness of Parkinson and
his failing voice.
The last evening of his live
has blessed the world through
the open window
of the bedroom where he would
die some hours later.
His voice failed to say the
words.
But we knew that he was saying
farewell
by blessing us and the world.
Respect he
taught us for the handicapped
and for people
living in illness.
He had the respect and love of
millions.
Even 47 years were not enough
discuss all issues:
the role of non clerical
volunteers in the church;
equal rights for women;
the epidemics of new illnesses
and what to do;
euthanasia;
birth control;
fundamental rights for
mammals, sea animals;
abolishing torture and death
penalty;
saving rainforests and deep
ocean life;
equal distribution of
resources;
and more.
I met John Paul II in 1985 and
1987
three times and I was very
impressed
by his spiritual personality.
We are living in
a remarkable time and
we better be on
the look out for more miracles to come.
Four popes who
will be saints,
will certainly
give us miracles of world peace.
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Updated December 26,
2006
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