A year ago Benedict XVI beatified his beloved predecessor to the See of Peter John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square in front of the Basilica where a vast sea of pilgrims had gathered spilling beyond into the streets surrounding it.
It was a prayerful moment but also a joyful one and pilgrims from Karol Wojtylas’s native Poland attended in great numbers.
On a more official level over a dozen heads of State alongside the cardinals , bishops , priests and men and women religious were seated up close to the altar.
Only six years had gone by since the death of John Paul II and in his homily on this occasion the Pope mentioned how he had wanted the cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste and he exclaimed : ” And now the longed-for day has come,it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed…”
In this same homily Benedict XVI pointed to how this ceremony was timed to coincide with the Second Sunday of Easter which the late Polish Pontiff had dedicated to Divine Mercy. But also with the beginning of May, the month traditionally dedicated to Mary , the Mother of God to whom this late Pope had such special devotion.
His motto ‘totus tuus’ , Latin words meaning ‘I belong entirely to you ‘ referred to Mary and let’s recall too how he had placed the letter M beside the Cross on his coat of arms. And the Holy Father remarked: ” The beatitude of faith has its model in Mary, and all of us rejoice that the beatification of John Paul II takes place on this first day of the month of Mary, beneath the maternal gaze of the one who by her faith sustained the faith of the Apostles and constantly sustains the faith of their successors, especially those called to occupy the Chair of Peter”.
Benedict XVI also highlighted John Paul II’s first words following his election to the See of Peter in October 1978 : “Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!”
Pope John Paul II's beatification