ObituaryPope John Paul II 1920-2005

By the Most Reverend John Hepworth

ONE of the greatest Popes - in the long line that stretches to Peter - has died. We join our brothers and sisters throughout the Church in mourning a Father whom we also loved dearly.

It is rare for a Pope to challenge the whole world. In the cause of human life, in the cause of the freedom of each human being, in the cause of peace and justice, in the cause of learning and enlightenment, and above all in the cause of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, he brought the rulers of the nations, and their subjects, to an accountability under God.

At the same time, he challenged all of us who bear the name of Christ. We were challenged with the demand of Jesus that we be one. And daringly, he challenged us to accept his ministry, the ministry of Peter, in a world grown tired of authority.

We saw in him all the frailty of the human condition. We watched him in prayer at the great shrines of Mary, face alight with love. We saw him in Canterbury, before Augustine's throne, and we dreamed of what might be, and of what must be. We watched him in his travels and in his infirmities. We saw a man of faith. We saw a pilgrim driven by the apostolic urge to the nethermost ends of the world. We saw Peter at the feet of Christ, and in seeing, we heard the words of his Master.

Few popes have written as much, and few popes have been so earnestly read. Few human beings have caused such joy, such devotion. And few have caused so many people to so freely weep.

In the Breaking of the Bread of Life, we remember his immortal soul. Our prayerful thanksgiving is for a life that touched our life. And we invoke the Holy Spirit to stir up those who must now elect a shepherd for the Eternal City, where the bones of Peter and Paul, and John Paul, await the Resurrection.

Requiescat in pace, sacerdos magnus.