1979 Yearbook
Source URL
Title
1979 Yearbook
Description
PAUL VI
"I propose to die poor," said Pope Paul VI in
his last will and testament, handwritten in 1965,
and then set aside to be opened on his death. In
late August, as the world's Roman Catholics
mourned their Pontiff, Paul's final directive was
released. It exemplified both the simplicity and
the spirituality of the man. Paul left most of his
modest possessions to the Holy See. He also made
some requests. Referring to the ecumenical movement he did so much foster, he urged: "The work
of drawing closer to our seperated brethren should
continue with great understanding, with great
patience, and with great love, but without deviating from the true Catholic doctrine."
Before he was stricken, Paul seemed to sense,
somehow, that his life was nearing it's end. Four
weeks before his death, as he left the Vatican for
his annual summer at Castel Gandolfo, he told an
aide, "We do not know if we will return or how
we will return." One the first day of August, the
theme recurred. Driven to the wine-making hamlet of Frattocchio to visit the grave of an old
friend, he said to a knot of onlookers, "We hope
to meet him after death, which for us cannot be
far away." Five days later, on the Feast of the
Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, the Pope was
dead.
Paul inherited a church torn between excessive
expectations of change and equal resistence to
change.
John Paul I "How deep are the riches and the wisdom
and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable his
judgements, how unsearchable his ways!" St.
Paul's words rang out across St. Peter's square
in the genial high pitched voice of John Paul I
on that happy day, September 3, when he was installed as Supreme Pastor for the world's 700
million Roman Catholics. The new Pope was
invoking Scripture as a commentary on the conclave that had unexpectedly elected him-and in
a swift single day at that. Soon after, the text he
had chosen took on a different meaning as John
Paul died of a massive stroke, just 33 days after
he had been chosen as St. Peter's 263rd successor.
His speedy selection had seemed to be a
second Pentecost, a manifestation of the Holy
Spirit, to those Cardinals who participated in
the conclave; and his pontificate, brief as it was,
had suffused the church with warmth and hope.
"In a few days, he captured the world. He really
did," said Joseph Califano, the only Roman
Catholic in the U. S. Cabinet, after attending a
memorial mass.
What spiritual meaning indeed, could be
found in the briefest pontificate in more than
3V2 centuries? Perhaps, reasoned some Catholics,
John Paul was preaching a final sermon to his
beloved flock, a reminder of the fragility of
human existence and the unpredictable but inevitable fact of death.
John Paul II He is the youngest Pope in 132 years, the
first non-Italian in 455 years, and the first Pole
ever. Commuting from a Communist state,
Pope John Paul II faces all the problems of his
predecessors—and a few more.
John Paul II realized that with all these
forces unleased, his first public appearance
as Pope demanded more than the traditional
first 'Urbi et orbi' (to the city and the world)
blessing. He broke the precedent by delivering
a brief speech. As the crowd roared, he strode
forward and gripped the balustrade pugnaciously, arms outstretched. His rugged 5 ft. lOVi inch
frame, craggy high-cheekboned Slavic figure
and athletic posture all bespoke self-confidence
and authority.
The Pope's life in Poland was hard. Wojtyla's
mother died when he was nine. He was brought
up by his father, who subsisted for the most
part on an army sergeant's pension. Though
many Cardinals and Popes have been trained
from early youth in the hothouse atmosphere
of minor seminaries, Wojtyla went to an ordinary high school. He attended mass each morning, and headed a religious society, but equally
strong adolescent passions were literature and
theatre.
The papal inaugural speech contained a noteworthy sentence on ecumenism: "Hopefully,
thanks to a common effort, we might arrive
finally at a full communion with other Christians."
41
"I propose to die poor," said Pope Paul VI in
his last will and testament, handwritten in 1965,
and then set aside to be opened on his death. In
late August, as the world's Roman Catholics
mourned their Pontiff, Paul's final directive was
released. It exemplified both the simplicity and
the spirituality of the man. Paul left most of his
modest possessions to the Holy See. He also made
some requests. Referring to the ecumenical movement he did so much foster, he urged: "The work
of drawing closer to our seperated brethren should
continue with great understanding, with great
patience, and with great love, but without deviating from the true Catholic doctrine."
Before he was stricken, Paul seemed to sense,
somehow, that his life was nearing it's end. Four
weeks before his death, as he left the Vatican for
his annual summer at Castel Gandolfo, he told an
aide, "We do not know if we will return or how
we will return." One the first day of August, the
theme recurred. Driven to the wine-making hamlet of Frattocchio to visit the grave of an old
friend, he said to a knot of onlookers, "We hope
to meet him after death, which for us cannot be
far away." Five days later, on the Feast of the
Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, the Pope was
dead.
Paul inherited a church torn between excessive
expectations of change and equal resistence to
change.
John Paul I "How deep are the riches and the wisdom
and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable his
judgements, how unsearchable his ways!" St.
Paul's words rang out across St. Peter's square
in the genial high pitched voice of John Paul I
on that happy day, September 3, when he was installed as Supreme Pastor for the world's 700
million Roman Catholics. The new Pope was
invoking Scripture as a commentary on the conclave that had unexpectedly elected him-and in
a swift single day at that. Soon after, the text he
had chosen took on a different meaning as John
Paul died of a massive stroke, just 33 days after
he had been chosen as St. Peter's 263rd successor.
His speedy selection had seemed to be a
second Pentecost, a manifestation of the Holy
Spirit, to those Cardinals who participated in
the conclave; and his pontificate, brief as it was,
had suffused the church with warmth and hope.
"In a few days, he captured the world. He really
did," said Joseph Califano, the only Roman
Catholic in the U. S. Cabinet, after attending a
memorial mass.
What spiritual meaning indeed, could be
found in the briefest pontificate in more than
3V2 centuries? Perhaps, reasoned some Catholics,
John Paul was preaching a final sermon to his
beloved flock, a reminder of the fragility of
human existence and the unpredictable but inevitable fact of death.
John Paul II He is the youngest Pope in 132 years, the
first non-Italian in 455 years, and the first Pole
ever. Commuting from a Communist state,
Pope John Paul II faces all the problems of his
predecessors—and a few more.
John Paul II realized that with all these
forces unleased, his first public appearance
as Pope demanded more than the traditional
first 'Urbi et orbi' (to the city and the world)
blessing. He broke the precedent by delivering
a brief speech. As the crowd roared, he strode
forward and gripped the balustrade pugnaciously, arms outstretched. His rugged 5 ft. lOVi inch
frame, craggy high-cheekboned Slavic figure
and athletic posture all bespoke self-confidence
and authority.
The Pope's life in Poland was hard. Wojtyla's
mother died when he was nine. He was brought
up by his father, who subsisted for the most
part on an army sergeant's pension. Though
many Cardinals and Popes have been trained
from early youth in the hothouse atmosphere
of minor seminaries, Wojtyla went to an ordinary high school. He attended mass each morning, and headed a religious society, but equally
strong adolescent passions were literature and
theatre.
The papal inaugural speech contained a noteworthy sentence on ecumenism: "Hopefully,
thanks to a common effort, we might arrive
finally at a full communion with other Christians."
41
Publisher
Intercollegiate Press Inc.
Date
1979
Rights
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52803
Identifier
http://cdm16810.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16810coll2/id/6441