This L'Osservatore Romano photo showing Pope John Paul II at a Nov. 24, 1999, general audience was the most requested photo from the Vatican photo service's archives. (CNS/L'Osservatore Romano)
Four years ago today, Pope John Paul II died after a long struggle. It was agonizing to watch the once-vibrant, globetrotting pope from Poland succumb to the ravages of Parkinson’s and related ailments. His death was a moving moment for all. The world mourned, and millions turned out for his very moving funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica.
John Thavis, CNS Rome bureau chief, covered the pope almost as long as any journalist in the Vatican press corps. Here again is his reflection from 2005 on what it was like to cover a man who loved life, the church and the world as much as Karol Wotyla.
Filed under: CNS
I remember the man reading the headline in a paper the day news broke about a Pole’s election. His snort indicated his clear rejection and anatgonism. I would like to talk to him today.
John Paul II was a Pole and as such a typical representative of European values. Americans, products of a greedy, amoral, shallow” culture (to quote an American writer reviewed in TIME or Newsweek some 18 years ago) must stand in awe of him.
I still remember when he came to our country Indonesia. We love him. May God blessed him.