THE BEATIFICATION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II

The Beatification of Pope John Paul II takes place today in Rome.
Born in 1920, at the age of nine he lost his mother.  During the Nazi occupation of Poland, he worked in a quarry and later studied secretly for the priesthood at the risk of arrest by the Gestapo.
In 1946, he was ordained a priest, in 1958 he was ordained a bishop and in 1978 elected pope, the first non-Italian since 1523.  During the next 26 years, he was a ‘pilgrim pope’ visiting 129 countries including Melbourne in 1986.
He became the first pope to enter a mosque (in Damascus) and a synagogue (in Rome).
His declining health did not stop his travel or meeting people in the Vatican.
In 2005, he entered eternal life peacefully from his own apartment.
His writings will guide us for years to come, especially his encyclical for the new millennium in 2000.