The spokesman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, has asked the participants of the conference “30 years without the Wall”, organized in Rome by the Italian Catholic association Alleanza Cattolica, for prayer and actions so that St. John Paul II could be declared Doctor of the Church and co-patron of Europe.
In his lecture, the spokesman of the Polish Episcopate reminded that St. John Paul II meets three conditions to become a Doctor of the Church: he was proclaimed a saint by the Church, he is distinguished by an exceptional degree of holiness and his theological message is valid at all times.
Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik also noted that the long pontificate of Pope Wojtyła took place during the great transformations in Europe and the world, but his teaching refers to current issues, such as human dignity from conception to natural death, proper exercise of freedom, the dignity of human work, accompanying young people in discerning vocation, the value of prayer and suffering, dignity of the human body and love, Christian family.
“In the spirit of the letter of the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, to Pope Francis, I am asking for prayer and actions so that St. John Paul II could be declared Doctor of the Church and co-patron of Europe,” said the spokesman of the Polish Episcopate.
In turn, the Polish ambassador to the Holy See Janusz Kotański gave a lecture on the role of St. John Paul II in the fall of the Berlin Wall and his merits in this momentous event that changed the face of previously divided Europe.
The conference ended with the Eucharist celebrated in the church of San Salvatore in Lauro presided by Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
