c. 2005 Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY _ Italy named a mountain peak for Pope John Paul II on Wednesday (May 18) on what would have been his 85th birthday, and his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square that John Paul “sees us from on high.”
At the same time, some 12,285 people have signed an online petition to call the late pope “John Paul the Great,” even as his potential sainthood has been approved for fast track status by the new pope.
John Paul died April 2 at age 84. His 26-year reign was the third-longest in church history.
In Italy, two Masses marked the birthday, one in a small, medieval church in the Gran Sasso Mountains of the Apennines range east of Rome, and the other at John Paul’s grave in the grottoes below St. Peter’s Basilica.
Rome city officials had planned fireworks if John Paul had lived; instead they announced they would light up the ancient Colosseum in his memory. The Basilica of St. Mary Major scheduled the Italian premiere of a Mass by the Austrian composer Hubert Steppan, commissioned to honor the late pope.
Benedict opened his weekly general audience by speaking extemporaneously in Italian to 30,000 pilgrims gathered in the square.
“Today is the birthday of our beloved Pope John Paul II,” Benedict said. “He would have been 85 today, and we are sure that he sees us from on high and is with us. On this occasion, we want to give thanks to the Lord for what he has done for us and thanks to the pope for all that he did and suffered.”
Benedict also marked the birthday in Polish, calling John Paul “unforgettable,’ and said “he is in everyone’s hearts.” A large delegation of Poles was at the Vatican to thank Benedict for allowing the process to make John Paul a saint to begin immediately.
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Vatican office that will oversee the pope’s cause for sainthood, celebrated the Mass in the mountains. Italian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Gianni Alemanno then hiked to the top of the 8,000-foot peak, formerly called the Gendarme, to plant a cross dedicating it to John Paul.
Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s longtime personal secretary, celebrated the Mass at John Paul’s grave for about 200 people, including a delegation of Russian Catholics led by the archbishop of Moscow.
Meanwhile, a grass-roots, online petition has gathered 12,285 signatures in two weeks to designate John Paul “the Great.”
“The title `Great’ is not given by the church. It is not given by the College of Cardinals,” reads an e-mail petition spearheaded by Austin Ruse, president of the New York-based pro-life Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM).
“It is given by the people, by public acclamation and popular use. It is given by you and me.”
The petition will be sent to the Vatican when 1 million signatures are obtained to “make those in the church hierarchy aware of this so that maybe they will start using the term,” according to Mark Adams, a C-FAM spokesman.
Pope Benedict XVI has shown his support for honoring the late pontiff by announcing plans to put him on the “fast track” to sainthood. Last Friday (May 13), Benedict waived the normal five-year waiting period before sainthood can be considered.
Also in the United States, exhibits at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington and Xavier University in Cincinnati recalled the pope’s life and legacy. The Washington museum served birthday cake to mark the occasion.
_ Shawna Gamache reported from Washington.
MO/PH END POLK
Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for a variety of file photos of Pope John Paul II, including one of him viewing a mountain vista in Israel.
