Series: On the life of John Paul II
From 1996 - 2000 A.D.
The Pope continues to suffer from his health
After having an artificial hip replacement, the Pope told the faithful that God was asking him to suffer in reparation for the offenses against the culture of life. In 1996 A.D., he also had his appendix removed. It was during this period that the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease gradually appeared and started to affect his work. His left hand started to shake uncontrollably, but the Pope was brave and still made public appearances. As he traveled the world, he no longer knelt, bent down, and then kissed the ground after coming down from the plane: instead, he was offered a tray of national soil to kiss without stooping.
No stranger to human suffering
The Holy Father is no stranger to human suffering. By the time he was 20 years old, he had buried his parents and his older brother. He had endured repression first from the Nazis and then from the Communists. Every day, he hears painful stories that prompt him to express his solidarity with all who are hurting. He sends papal telegrams to heads of state and local bishops. The message would be either a response to a natural disaster or the violent death of a missionary. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls would also report that, upon receiving news of a disaster or tragedy, the Pope goes into his private chapel to pray for the victims. Prayer is very important to this missionary Pope.
Meeting with one of the last communists
Many believe John Paul II helped set in motion the events that led to the end of Russian communism. When the Kremlin cut off its decades old aid pipeline to Cuba, Fidel Castro (Cuba's revolutionary leader), was instantly transformed into an isolated ruler of an increasingly beleaguered island nation. When John Paul II visited Cuba in January 21-25, 1998 A.D., he forcefully directed the local Church to embrace spiritual, and not political revolution. In his sermons, he extolled the virtues of "freedom of expression". With this, the Cuban people erupted with a chant of "Libertad! Libertad!". Though the Pope's trip to Cuba did not prompt the push for freedom which the people chanted for, the Pope and Cuban leader Fidel Castro ended nevertheless with a balance of power. Half of Cuba stuck with their political icon Che Guevarra, while the other half continued to be loyal and devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Millenium Fever
John Paul made it clear that those seeking the clue to his life, times and vocation to the papacy would find it in the coming third millenium (the Jubilee Year 2000 A.D.). He had declared: "In fact, preparation for the Year 2000 A.D. has become, as it were, a hermeneutical (a term used in the study of the Scripture) key of my Pontificate." The coming millenium would show the meaning of his papacy, opportunities to make connections, to read the signs, and know the Third Secret of Fatima. As the third millenium dawned, the Jubilee Year 2000 A.D. had been preceded by a flurry of renovations in the Eternal City. John Paul's schedule was packed with many ceremonies. On Christmas Eve, he opened the holy door of St. Peter's to a fanfare of ivory tusk horns. Christ, the Pope told the assembly, is "the door of our salvation," but "people often seek the truth elsewhere" - truth seen in modern ways of living. On New Year's Day, he opened another holy door at St. Mary Major.
On an Extraordinary Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Since becoming Pope, John Paul had longed to revisit the sites where Christ stood, and to bring his message of peace to the violence-scarred region. After heeding the advice of his senior advisers to put off the visit, in 1999 A.D., he overrode their concerns and announced a trip to the Holy Land. The Holy Father tailored his journey as a pilgrimage to the sacred sites of the three great religions that recognized Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. On February 24, 2000 A.D., the Pope flew to Egypt; two days later, he visited Mount Sinai, where the Ten Commandments were handed to Moses.
Day of Pardon
Before the Pope undertook the central part of his Holy Land pilgrimage, like other pilgrims, he sought a clean conscience - for himself and for the Church. On March 12, 2000 A.D., the first Sunday of Lent, at St. Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father prayed to inspire renewed fidelity to the message of the Gospel. He also acknowledged and examined the offenses committed in the name of the Roman Catholic Church over the centuries. "Never again offenses against any people...never again acts of discrimination, exclusion, oppression, contempt for the poor and the defenseless." It was an act unprecedented in the history of the Church: the Pope had taken the Church to confession.
Back to the Holy Land Pilgrimage
On March 20, 2000 A.D., the Holy Father flew to Jordan to visit the site of Christ's baptism by John the Baptist. His next stop was Israel: a visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the cenacle on Mount Zion - where the Pope prayed intently. But the two most poignant and unforgettable moments of the Pope were his prayer at the Western Wall and his visit to Israel's Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem. Here, the Pope asked forgiveness for centuries of Catholic sins against the Jews.
A Visit to Fatima, Portugal
On Saturday, May 13, 2000 A.D., the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, before a crowd of a million faithful, John Paul presided at a beatification Mass for the two seers of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta Marto - both of whom died at an early age. Sister Lucia dos Santos, the third seer, was ninety-three years old at the time. On the previous day, May 12, 2000 A.D., the Pope had arrived at the Fatima Shrine with Cardinal Sodano, his Secretary of State. That evening, he prayed in the Chapel of the Apparitions and left a small red box at the foot of Our Lady of Fatima's statue. The red box contained a ring given to him by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, former primate of all Poland when John Paul was elected Pope. It was also during these eventful days that the Holy Father gave permission to Cardinal Sodano, Secretary of State, to divulge the Third Secret of Fatima - a secret delivered by Sis. Lucia dos Santos to Pope Pius XII (a devotee of the cult), fifty-six years ago.
Edited from the following sources
- The Pope Coming from the East, by Teresio Bosco, S.D.B.
- An Intimate Portrait: John Paul II, by Mark Bakermans
- The Pontiff in Winter, by John Cornwell
- Pope John Paul II: Champion of Faith, by TV Guide Magazine Group, Inc.
- Special Report: The 25 Years of Pope John Paul II, Vatican Information Service
- John Paul II: A Great Pope Passes into History, Readers Digest (June 2005 A.D.)
- John Paul II: 1920-2005 A.D., Newsweek Special Double Issue (April 11/April 18, 2005 A.D.)
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