Newsletter of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
Rome, Italy
April 2, 2005

Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow, was elected Pope shortly after 5 p.m. Rome time on October 16, 1978 during the eighth vote of the second Conclave being held that year because of the sudden death of Pope John Paul I, who had succeeded Pope Paul VI only one month earlier. After burying two Popes in less than two months, it seemed the electors of this second Conclave were determined to find a strong and long-lasting leader.

Cardinal Camerlengo Jean Villot asked Cardinal Wojtyla the ritual question of acceptance to which he replied: With the obedience of faith in front of Christ my Lord, confiding in the aid of the Mother of Christ and the Church, conscious of the great difficulties, I accept.

Two hours after the white smoke appeared from the Sistine chapel chimney, indicating a decisive ballot, the official announcement, Habemus Papam! was made in the evening dusk by Cardinal Pericle Felici from the central balcony of St. Peters basilica, bathed surreally in television lights. He introduced Karol Wojtyla as the new Pope to a packed St. Peters Square and to a waiting world. The announcement of his name created momentary confusion among the thousands gathered below and also with the press and television reporters. It sounded first like an African name, but slowly a wave of recognition swept through the square as people began to realize it was the Pole, the first non-Italian Pope since 1522. The crowd was electrified.

Appearing on the balcony, the athletic, 58 year old Pope John Paul II, as he chose to be called (in recognition of his three previous predecessors, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I), addressed the throng for the first time in Italian with a strong and confident voice. He began with the endearing Italian salutation: Carissimi, instantly winning over his new flock. He went on to exhort the faithful around the world: Do not be afraid, putting his Papacy and the welfare of the Church in the divine providence of Jesus Christ and the intercession of His Mother.

On October 22, Karol Wojtyla was officially installed as Pope John Paul II. He chose a simpler installation ceremony, foregoing the coronation with the triple tiara. The Polish Cardinal became Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, successor of Peter, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of Vatican City State and Servant of the servants of God. His coat of arms was distinctly Marian. He took as his papal motto: Totus Tuus Totally Yours.

The rest is history as they say. It is our history and the history of the end of the XXth century and the beginning of the 3rd Millenium. Because of his over 104 missionary travels, practically all of us have had the opportunity to encounter the Vicar of Christ one or more times in our lifetime. Each of us can remember and recall where we first encountered this vibrant and charismatic Pope. For Catholics 35 years of age or younger, he is the only Holy Father they have known or had.

Those old enough can recall how, coming from a Communist country, he became an instrument of Providence and history: the support of the Polish Solidarity movement; his return to Poland as Pope a 1979 and again in 1987. These Papal visits to Poland started the crack that would eventually lead to the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the fall of communism. But not before an assassination attempt in 1981, which the Holy Father believed failed through the intercession of the Mother of God, whose patronage and protection he had entrusted his Papacy. He visited his would-be killer in prison in 1983 and forgave him. He later visited Fatima to make his own personal thanksgiving to Our Lady for sparing his life ( and later beatified two of the seers. Ironically his death comes only weeks after the death of the last seer of Fatima, Sr. Lucia de los Santos.)

His pastoral style, as his comportment, was confident and firm. Always reaffirming doctrinal orthodoxy, his pastoral visits around the world were characterized by colorful, inclusive, inculturated liturgies, attended by millions. After the assassination attempt his bulletproof Popemobile became a familiar scene on the evening news as he visited continent after continent, country after country. He beatified and canonized more people than any other Pope, believing that the faithful needed many examples of faith and holiness to follow and to give encouragement to each ones call to holiness in whatever walk of life.

As the years passed by, we saw the Holy Fathers health slowly decline, but he displayed his own declining health as a powerful witness for the sanctity of human life and the dignity of each person from conception to the natural end of life. When he was strong and healthy, he always carried a crosier topped by the image of the crucified Christ and leaned on it. As he grew old, unable to hold it, he personally embodied this symbol in his own sufferings and illnesses so apparent in his last years. But in each stooped appearance, in each labored speech, he witnessed more powerfully than any sermon, decree or dogma, on the redemptive power of uniting our sufferings to Christs.

If the Cardinals of the Second Conclave of 1978, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, set out to find a strong and long lasting leader, Providence rewarded their resolve. Pope John Paul was pastor of the universal Church for 26 years, 5 months and  17 days -- longer than any other Pontiff except the apostle Peter, Pope Pius IX, and just short of Pope Leo XIII.

During his decline in health, when many speculated that he should resign, the Holy Father always reaffirmed that he would leave the decision of how long he would reign in Gods hands. Now God has called His servant home. May he enjoy the Vision of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the company of the Virgin Mary who he was so devoted to, and in the company of Peter the Apostle and all the Saints and Blessed he proclaimed as gifts to the Church.

It has been said of others, but in the annals of both Church and world history it is absolutely true of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II:

The likes of him we shall not see again.

The College of Cardinals, 117 eligible electors, will meet in Conclave to elect a new Pope beginning sometime between 15 and twenty days from now. It will be the duty of Senior Cardinal Deacon Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, of Chile, to announce to the world the name of the newly elected Pope soon after a decisive b allot and present him on St. Peters balcony for his first blessing Urbi et Orbi.

For more information about the College of Cardinals and the Conclave go to:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_22021996_universi-dominici-gregis_en.html