“It is our duty and privilege to transmit the heritage of Saint John Paul II to the next generations. Therefore, may this heritage be perpetuated in our consciousness, in our culture, in our daily attitude, in our love and service,” said Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the long-time personal secretary of Pope St. John Paul II, in the homily he pronounced during Holy Mass at the Sanctuary of Saint John Paul II in Krakow, on 16 October, on the 40th anniversary of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła’s election to the See of St. Peter. The Polish Bishops’ Conference and the highest state authorities, led by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda and his wife, took part in the Eucharistic celebration.
In the homily, Cardinal Dziwisz focused on four titles related to the ministry of John Paul II. The first of them was the Pope of truth about God and man. The Cardinal stressed that this truth is the basis of the meaning and value of human life. The second title of John Paul II, reflected on by Cardinal Dziwisz, was the Pope of life. “The Holy Father preached the holiness of human life, its dignity and inviolability. That is why he defended, clearly and with determination, the lives of the unborn and defenseless, who, in the legislation of many countries, are denied the fundamental right to see the light of day,” said the Cardinal.
The third title is the Pope of the family. “He realized what irreplaceable value a good family has for every human being and how vulnerable the family is to the multiple attacks in the modern world,” noted the Cardinal. The last of the titles considered was the Pope of freedom. The Cardinal recalled that, under the influence of the Polish Pope’s service, our homeland and Eastern Europe shed the yoke of totalitarianism.
After the festive Eucharist, presided over by Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland, the restored Papal Window was unveiled in the house of the Archbishop of Krakow, at 3 Franciszkańska St. On this occasion, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski said: “We, who are gathered today on the 40th anniversary of the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła to the See of St. Peter, on the day when the new Pope from a Polish family took the name of John Paul II, are convinced that he blesses us from heaven.”
In the Archdiocesan Museum at the John Paul II Center in Krakow, the exhibition “Our Pope” was also opened. “The whole idea of the exhibition has one goal. It is an encounter with the Holy Father through the traces that he left us,” noted Krakow’s Metropolitan Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski during the inauguration of the exhibition. The ceremony ended with a concert on the city’s Main Square.
