WORLD 24/04/27 St. John Paul II, pray for us!

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St. John Paul II, pray for us!

On the 10th anniversary of his canonization, let us ask John Paul the Great to intercede for the world today

Published: April 26, 2024 11:36 AM GMT ▾

Pope St. John Paul II, or John Paul the Great as he is often known, was the first Slavic pontiff and the third longest-serving pope in history, who helped free Europe and the world from tyranny, at least for a time. (Photo: Benedict Rogers)

This Saturday, April 27, marks the 10th anniversary of the canonization of Pope St. John Paul II — or John Paul the Great as he is often known.

And it is worth remembering that he died on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005 — a day created in tribute to the revelations received by St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, recorded in her notorious diary which I am currently reading.

The relationship between St. John Paul II, St. Faustina, and the fight for freedom against totalitarianism is clear. And it became even clearer to me on my recent pilgrimage to Poland.

It was with these two key anniversaries in mind that I set off on my first-ever visit to Poland two weeks ago, arriving in a sunny Warsaw — by chance, or perhaps divine ordination — on the Feast of St. Stanislaus, Poland’s patron saint.

One of the first places I visited, after giving a talk at the University of Warsaw about my book, The China Nexus, which has just been published in Polish, was Victory Square. That night and several times in the next 48 hours, I stood at the foot of the cross — across the square from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame — on the spot where the first ever Slavic pontiff had fired his opening salvo against the Communist occupiers of his homeland;

“Let your Spirit descend.
Let your Spirit descend. 

and renew the face of the earth,
the face of this land.”

I spent the next six days in the close company of St. John Paul II. In every church or place associated with his story — across Warsaw, Krakow, and his birthplace Wadowice, and even in the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau — I prayed, and lit candles where I could, for causes close to my heart which I believed that St. John Paul the Great would also share: freedom, human rights, human conscience, human dignity and human life around the world.

My journey with St. John Paul II began at the Church of the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, which former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly visited and observed that it was clear that the faith of Poles would defeat Communism.

In that church, I lit candles and knelt and said prayers in a side chapel before St. John Paul II for my friend Jimmy Lai, the 76-year-old Hong Kong media entrepreneur and devout Catholic who has spent almost three and a half years in prison and is currently on trial under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Laws, simply because of his pro-democracy activities. I prayed too for all other prisoners in Hong Kong, across China, Myanmar, North Korea, and beyond.

When I reached Krakow, St. John Paul II’s home city, after a beautiful train ride through the Polish countryside, I began my first day — a Sunday — with Holy Mass in Krakow’s Wawel Cathedral, where St. John Paul II — as Father Karol Wojtyla — said his first Mass. I knelt in the side chapel dedicated to St. John Paul II, lit candles, and again prayed for Jimmy Lai, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, and other political prisoners across Asia and beyond.

Later, I stood outside the Papal Window at the archbishop’s residence, where a big picture of St. John Paul II stood at the spot where he used to banter with crowds on return visits.

From Krakow, I traveled an hour and a half to Wadowice and visited the museum in his old family home, full of his school certificates and photographs of his sporting adventures — skiing, kayaking, and mountain hiking.

At the Church of the Presentation of Our Lady, where he was baptized, received his first communion, and served as an altar boy, I prayed in the side chapel dedicated to him, where I lit candles in front of his large portrait. I prayed — and asked St. John Paul II to pray — again for all the causes in my heart. It seems especially apposite to turn to the pope who helped defeat Communism in Europe to pray for freedom in the world today.

I also learned that St. John Paul II had the same patron saint as me: St. Charles Borromeo.

When I was inspired and received into the Church in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Yangon, Myanmar, by my friend and mentor, Yangon’s archbishop, Cardinal Charles Bo, I chose his saint — St. Charles Borromeo — as mine, out of respect for the man who opened the doors of Catholicism to me. I did not know at the time that Cardinal Bo and I shared that saint with John Paul II too.

On my final day in Poland, I went to the Shrine of the Divine Mercy. To pray in front of St. Faustina’s tomb in the chapel of the miraculous image of the Merciful Jesus in Łagiewniki and the Basilica of the Divine Mercy, was a wonderful way to end this beautiful pilgrimage. I read a few pages of her diary too. I prayed and lit candles yet again, asking St. Faustina to pray for divine mercy for the causes of my heart and the world.

From the Shrine of the Divine Mercy, I walked across the hill to a large, modern church, which turned out to be the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II, part of the “Be not afraid! John Paul II Centre.”

There, I prayed again and lit more candles. Then, in a side chapel, I noticed a bloodstained white cassock displayed in a glass cabinet: the cassock John Paul II was wearing when he was shot in St. Peter’s Square by assassin Mehmet Ali Ağca on May 13, 1981.

It felt especially poignant that I said some of my last prayers in Poland, for freedom, human rights, and peace throughout the world, in front of the bloody cassock of one of the world’s greatest defenders of human rights, dignity, and life, who miraculously survived a dramatic attempt on his own life.

I was moved by a beautiful painting of John Paul II, following his recovery, embracing his assassin in prison. “We all need forgiveness from our brothers, so we should all be ready to forgive. To ask for forgiveness and to forgive — this is the way truly worthy of a human being,” St. John Paul II said.

My companion throughout this journey was George Weigel’s brilliant book about John Paul II, The End and The Beginning — a sequel to his epic biography, Witness to Hope. As I drew close to John Paul the Great in different locations associated with his life story, some of his famous phrases echoed in my heart and mind — particularly “Be not afraid!” “Duc in altum!” (put out into the deep), and “Open wide the doors for Christ.” I was even more inspired than ever by the man who provided the answer to Stalin’s question: how many divisions does the pope have? I came to know, understand and love this great saint even more.

Across Poland, in chapels dedicated to St. John Paul II, candles have been lit for many of Asia’s political prisoners — those whose names are well-known, such as Jimmy Lai and Aung San Suu Kyi, and those whose names are known only to God, such as those in North Korea’s gulags, China’s prison camps, and Myanmar’s jails and displacement camps.

As we mark the 10th anniversary of his canonization, let us ask this great man — the first Slavic pontiff and the third longest-serving pope in history, who helped free Europe and the world from tyranny, at least for a time — to intercede for the world today. St. John Paul II, pray for us!

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.