There were so many young people who were born during the John Paul II pontificate and who were growing in faith experiencing that it was him (they were saying “my Pope”) who made them feel the real presence of Christ in their lives. There were so many young people from yesterday, who became adults and who perhaps met during one of the World Youth Days and to him they owed their choice to marriage or priestly or religious vocation. And, there were so many Christians, who may have heard him only once or maybe saw him from a distance, have returned to their faith and – as he asked them – they choose the life which would make sense, finding the values of moral involvement in daily life, in relations with others.
They were his people; but not only. Yes, certainly, they were his people, whom John Paul II accompanied in their opening to their new experience of faith. The faith that is very simple, very transparent, without any unnecessary burdens and at the same time, the faith more aware, deeper, mature, and united with the need of giving testimony. And, capable of changing cold, frightened believers into authentic followers of the Gospel, who are able to face – as Christians – complicated and full of contradictions world that we have today.
They were his people – I said- but not only. I believe that the humanity which on that day gathered around him, around John Paul II, was a faithful mirror of the faith in God, exceeding the bounds of creeds. I would like to say that, I believe that on that day, May 1st, there were also people who do not believe or who were not active in their faith for a long time. People, who have been infected with the manner in which Karol Wojtyła was able to pass the hope, open himself to others, to all and thanks to him they were able to find the reference point in their inner lives. And perhaps, they started to ask themselves questions about transcendent God in relation to human history, and at the same time, present and active in these times.
With the consent of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
