REMEMBERING JOHN PAUL II

Osservatore Romano today, 3/11/07,
devotes half of its front page
to John Paul II:

It refers to the closing of the
diocesan inquiry into the cause for
his beatification. Formal ceremony
at the Lateran Basilica on April 2.


John Paul II, on Good Friday 2005, as he followed the Via Crucis on TV from his private chapel.



The full front page on PDF:
www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/058q01.pdf

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/03/2007 16.47]

Two inside views of late pope's life don't make for redundant reading

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Pope John Paul II's sainthood cause rolled forward, two people close to him have offered quite different insider accounts of his life and times.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, the late pope's personal secretary for 39 years, has produced a conversational memoir called "A Life with Karol." In anecdotal fashion, it sketches many of their major and minor experiences together.

Pope Benedict XVI has meanwhile released "John Paul II: My Beloved Predecessor," a more analytical look at the philosophical and theological impact of his pontificate.

Although the books focus on the same subject, they don't make for redundant reading. That says something about the breadth of Pope John Paul's 26-year pontificate.

The volumes arrived in European bookstores just as church officials announced that the diocesan phase of Pope John Paul's sainthood cause would end April 2, the second anniversary of his death. The cause now goes to the Vatican.

Vatican sources cautioned that it could still be a long time before Pope John Paul is declared a saint.

But Cardinal Dziwisz, after meeting with Pope Benedict in early March, gently dropped a bombshell in a conversation with a small group of reporters in Rome. He asked whether beatification, a step that allows "local" devotion, was even necessary for a world figure like Pope John Paul.

"There is no need to rush, absolutely none. But it is certainly possible to skip the beatification and immediately begin the canonization process. This is something the Holy Father can decide," Cardinal Dziwisz said.

Cardinal Dziwisz's more or less chronological account in "A Life with Karol" begins with the day Archbishop Karol Wojtyla of Krakow asked him to be his personal secretary. "When?" Father Dziwisz asked. "You can start today," the archbishop replied. After a pause, the priest answered, "I'll come tomorrow."

When Pope John Paul II's election was announced in 1978, Father Dziwisz was under the main balcony in St. Peter's Square with a crowd of Romans, most of whom didn't recognize Cardinal Wojtyla's name. "That's my bishop!" was the incredulous secretary's first thought. "It happened!"

The book reveals some private papal moments with the world's powerful and powerless. In Chile in 1987, shortly after being constrained to appear with Gen. Augusto Pinochet on his presidential balcony, the pope told the dictator it was time to think about handing back power to a civilian government.

After visiting Blessed Mother Teresa at her home for the dying in Calcutta in 1986, the pope whispered to her: "If I could, I'd be pope from here." Frequently, Cardinal Dziwisz wrote, the pope would direct his motorcade to pull over so he could visit poor families in between official stops on foreign travels to Third World countries.

The pope's visits to his native Poland helped spark a spiritual-political revolution, and Cardinal Dziwisz tells the story from the pope's perspective. The book recounts that when the government allowed the pope to meet in 1983 with Solidarity leader Lech Walesa in a mountain hut, the pope figured the place must be bugged and so led Walesa outside for their talks.

Cardinal Dziwisz is adamant on the question of clandestine Vatican funding for Solidarity: It's a myth, and never happened, he said. And although the United States shared with the Vatican some intelligence information about Eastern Europe, "it didn't add much to what the Holy See already knew from other sources," he said.

Pope Benedict's book is a collection of previous talks and essays, so there are no real revelations. Perhaps because Popes John Paul and Benedict were so much in synch on nearly every issue, press reports have focused on one minor disagreement: the Bob Dylan concert of 1997.

As news, it's recycled -- from a paper he wrote as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1998, for the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul's election. The concert closed out the World Eucharistic Congress in Bologna, Italy, and Cardinal Ratzinger said he had been skeptical of the idea of an increasingly frail and ailing pope sharing the stage with a group of rock and pop stars ("Bob Dylan and others whose names I don't remember.")

"They had a message that was completely different from the one the pope was committed to," then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote. He said he wondered whether "it was really right to let these types of 'prophets' intervene."

His comment was probably aimed more at a genre of music than at Dylan, who played a short but great set for the pope and 300,000 people, including "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

Pope John Paul listened, chin in hand, and then capitalized on the moment to give a sermon based on the lyrics to "Blowin' in the Wind." It was a characteristic effort by someone who was always trying to build bridges to younger generations.

In response, Dylan sang an encore that seemed intended for the aging pontiff: "Forever Young."

It's probably going to be just my luck that when I have finished doing this translation, I will find out that meanwhile, ZENIT has posted rhe story in its English service - a story that has been in their other language services for over 24 hours now.


The postulator for John Paul-II's
beatication speaks


VATICAN CITY, March 20 (ZENIT.org) - Monsignor Slawomir Oder, postulator for the beatification and canonization of John Paul II, met the media yesterday to duiscuss the status of the process.

As previously announced, the initial phase of diocesan investigation into the life, qualities and reputation for sanctity of the late Pope formally ends on April 2, second anniverasary of his death, with concluding rites at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Materials gathered by the tribunals in Rome and Cracow, where the diocesan investigations took place, will now be forwarded to the Congregation for the Cause of Sainthood. Besides the testimonies heard from witnesses called to the Tribunals, there will also be diocesan material relating to the work of John Paul II as Archbishop of Cracow and then Bishop of Rome. This will be supplemented by material from the Church's historical commission.

The testimonies "mostly concern opinions about the sanctity of the candidate or the graces which the witnesses consider to have received through the intercession of the Servant of God - material as well as spiritual graces."

Mons. Oder made clear that "It is not possible to determine the date for the beatification, much less for canonization." He pointed out that it was not within his competence "to speculate about the possibility of modifying the traditional course of the canonical process prescribed by the Congregation for the Cause of Saints."

[Cardinal Stanislaw Dsiwisz, Archbishop of Cracow and private secretary to John Paul II for 40 years, had suggested in several media interviews recently that it was within the power of Pope Benedict to omit the beatification stage and proceed directly to canonization.]

"The time of rhits process is valuable for the church. It is important to live it as a time to get to know better the life, the teachings and the spiritual message of thr Servant of God."

At least one confirmed miracle is needed to close the beatification process. On Friday, March 22, Oder said, a so-called "Super Miro' process will conclude into a presumed post-mortem miracle effected by John Paul for a French nun who was afflicted with Parkinson's disease.

Last year, when the investigation into this presumed miracle began, Oder had said: "I am very moved that it is the very same disease that the Holy Father - I think it's another sign of God's creativity."

The case involves a relatively young French nun who was working with newborn babies in a French hospital,who was cured of Parkinson's miraculously in October of 2005.

Oder said three other miracles attributed to John Paul II had been reported in that year - in Latin America, in the United States and in China.

"The presence of contrary voices in this case," Oder said, "is a Gospel fact. Jesus himself said, 'Blessed are you if tehy say bad things about you.."

"That is why," he continued, "one should not be surprised to find some voices whodo not share the consensus about the saintliness of this Servant of God. The personality of the Pope is very rich and multifaceted. He was present in the life of the Church and in world history for such a long time. Therefore, conflicting reactions to him are to be expected."

New landmark in John Paul II's
path to sainthood
by Gina Doggett


ROME, Mar. 27 (AFP) - The Rome diocese is set to announce Tuesday the completion of the first stage of a fast-track process to beatify pope John Paul II, placing the late pontiff further along the road to sainthood.

The end of the review of John Paul II's "life, virtues, writings and reputation for holiness" will be marked with a ceremony on April 2, the second anniversary of the death of the charismatic Polish pope.

The landmark event will be celebrated at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, the seat of the vicar of Rome - a position held ex-officio by the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The diocese will formally hand over the dossier for John Paul II's beatification to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, which is likely eventually to propose hat Pope Benedict XVI recognise his predecessor's "heroic virtues" and proclaim him "blessed."

Benedict launched John Paul II's beatification process in May 2005, the month after his death, waiving the customary five-year period.

The late pontiff himself waived the requirement - intended to prevent sentiments from clouding judgement soon after the death of a beloved candidate - for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whom he beatified in 2003.

While the process leading to sainthood usually takes decades if not centuries, mourners at John Paul II's funeral in April 2005 called for him to be sainted immediately, chanting "Santo Subito!"

Convincing evidence of a miracle - usually a medical cure with no scientific explanation - is a key part of the beatification process. A second miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession with God is necessary for full sainthood.

The Rome diocese's website carries dozens of testimonials from individuals claiming cures at the hands of the pope, but to qualify as a miracle by Vatican standards the recovery must be sudden, complete and permanent - as well as inexplicable by doctors.

Investigators have focussed on a French nun reportedly cured of Parkinson's disease - the same degenerative malady from which the pope himself suffered - in October 2005 after prayers to John Paul II following his death.

The late pope's beatification process has not all been plain sailing. In December 2005, 11 dissident Catholic theologians insisted in a letter to the Vatican that the "negative" effects of his 27-year pontificate be investigated.

In particular they cited his rigidly conservative stand on issues such as contraception in a time of AIDS, the role of women and sexual abuse scandals within the Church.

And the head of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints said last April that there would be no rush to beatify John Paul II.

"The sainthood of a pope needs much more certainty and depth than that of a simple man of faith or a martyr," Cardinal Jose Maria Saraiva Martins told the Portuguese daily newspaper Diario de Noticias.

A miracle "has to be ... a phenomenon that is not natural. It has to be proven that the cure would have been impossible through human means," the Portuguese cardinal said.

John Paul II is himself known as the greatest "saint maker" in the history of the Catholic Church. He created more saints -- 482 -- than all the other popes put together.

Here is an item translated from PETRUS:


VATICAN CITY, Mar. 27 - All the details about the miraculous healing of a French nun through the intercession of John Paul II after his death will be announced on Palm Sunday, April 1, according to Fr. Slawomir Oder, postulator for the late Pope's beatification cause.



Rome's vicariate general secretary Mauro Parmegiani, left,
and Monsignor Slawomir Oder at the news conference today .

Oder spoke at a news conference in the Vicariate of Rome. Up to now, all the testimony regarding the miracle has been kept under guard by the bishop of the diocese to which the nun belongs. She was declared completely cured of Parkinson's disease in October 2005.

Oder said there were about 130 testimonies presented to the diocesan investigations, many of them claiming miraculous outcomes, including several cases of cancer. Many others claimed to have received the grace of parenthood after praying to the late Pope.


AND HERE ARE THE ENGLISH NEWS SERVICE REPORTS:

Nun a mystery in
John Paul sainthood
By NICOLE WINFIELD


ROME, Mar. 27 (AP) - It's one of the Roman Catholic Church's closely guarded secrets: the identity of the French nun whose testimony of an inexplicable cure from Parkinson's disease is likely to be accepted as the miracle the Vatican needs to beatify Pope John Paul II.

The nun is coming to Rome for ceremonies Monday marking the second anniversary of the pontiff's death and the closure of a church investigation into his life — a probe that was ordered after chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood Now!" erupted during John Paul's 2005 funeral.

While a few details about the nun's whereabouts are expected to be released during that visit, it remains to be seen whether she will ever come forward publicly, leaving the faithful with only an anonymous written description of her cure from a disease John Paul himself lived with for years.

The Vatican's saint-making process requires that John Paul's life and writings be studied for its virtues — an investigation that will end with ceremonies Monday. In addition, the Vatican requires that a miracle attributed to his intercession be confirmed before he can be beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood.

Pope Benedict XVI announced in May 2005 that he was waiving the traditional five-year waiting period and allowing the beatification process to begin. While many people had hoped John Paul would have been declared a saint by now, there is still no word on when any beatification or canonization might occur.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish prelate spearheading John Paul's beatification cause, announced last year that the case of the French nun was the most compelling he had found and would be forwarded onto the Vatican for confirmation.

But the woman's identity has remained a mystery.

At a news conference Tuesday, Oder joked that there would be "thousands of nuns" in the St. John Lateran basilica attending the ceremony — including the sister in question.

"I leave it to your investigations and diligence to figure out which one is the nun," he quipped.

When warned that the lives of many nuns would be disrupted by journalists eager to find her, Oder said he would speak to the woman's superiors. But, he joked, "The problem is this: that knowing the nun, it might ruin her life!"

Oder said the woman's diocese and community would be announced on Sunday by her bishop.

Only one document about the woman's experience has been made public: an article she wrote for "Totus Tuus," the official magazine of John Paul's beatification case.

In it, she wrote of being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in June 2001, that she had a strong spiritual affinity for John Paul because he too suffered from the disease and that her symptoms had worsened in the weeks after the pontiff's death on April 2, 2005.

"I was wasting away, day by day," she wrote, saying she could no longer write legibly or drive long distances because her muscles would go rigid — a typical symptom of Parkinson's disease.

The nuns of her community prayed for her, and exactly two months after John Paul's death, she awoke in the middle of the night cured, she wrote.

Oder said he was "amazed" by one piece of evidence to support her story: a paper on which the nun had written "John Paul II" the night before her recovery. "It was practically illegible," he said.

The day after she was cured, she wrote about what had happened and her handwriting was the same as it was before she was diagnosed, he said.

On Monday, the French bishop in whose diocese the alleged miracle occurred will forward the documentation he has gathered to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which will then convene a panel of medical and theological experts to study it. The congregation will also study Oder's investigation into John Paul's virtues to determine whether he can be beatified.

On the Net:
www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/



Mysterious nun at heart
of John Paul sainthood bid
By Philip Pullella


ROME, Mar. 27 (Reuters) - A mysterious French nun who was cured of Parkinson's disease after praying to the late Pope John Paul will be the main guest next week at ceremonies marking the end of the first phase of the process to make him a saint.

But her identity may never be known unless she decides to reveal it.

Next Monday, the second anniversary of his death, the Rome diocese will officially give the Vatican tens of thousands of pages of documentation and transcripts which propose that John Paul should be beatified, the last step before sainthood.

The documentation includes the case of a French nun who was suffering from Parkinson's - the same disease that the late Pope had - until it inexplicably disappeared on June 2, 2005.

"The nun will be at the ceremonies in Rome and the Vatican on April 2, but so will thousands of others," Monsignor Slawomir Oder, who is in charge of promoting the sainthood case for the late Pope, told reporters on Tuesday.

On Monday, Pope Benedict will lead a solemn mass at the Vatican to remember his predecessor.

Before the papal events, a bishop somewhere in France will disclose that it was in his diocese where the "miracle" took place, but he is not expected to reveal the nun's name.

The nun, whose identity is known to only a handful of clerics and doctors, wrote anonymously of her experiences in a magazine published by the Italian Catholic Church.

"I was losing weight day by day. I could no longer write and if I did try to, it was difficult to decipher. I could no longer drive ... because my left leg became rigid," she wrote.

She describes how she and her fellow nuns in her religious community prayed to the late Pope for her healing.

On June 2, 2005, exactly two months after the Pope's death, she said she felt the sudden urge to pick up a pen.

"My handwriting was completely legible ... my body was no longer pained, no longer rigid ... I felt a profound sense of peace," she wrote.

Her neurologist and other doctors and psychologists who later examined her were at a loss for a medical explanation. She had earlier been diagnosed as suffering from Parkinson's.

If Vatican experts and doctors concur that the healing of the nun was a miracle - which experts said is likely - Pope Benedict can then beatify John Paul.

According to Church rules, another miracle would be necessary after the beatification in order for him to be declared a saint.

But as supreme leader of the Catholic Church, Benedict could decide to waive beatification and move directly to sainthood.

In May, 2005, Pope Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to sainthood by dispensing with Church rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period after a candidate's death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can even start.

Many Catholics are convinced of John Paul's holiness. Crowds at his funeral chanted "Santo Subito" ("Make him a saint now").

However, Oder, who is Polish like the late Pope, said he expected the procedure to run its normal course.

Oder said that his office has received numerous reports from people who say they have been healed - most of them from cancer - after praying to John Paul.


'Miracle' to put pope John Paul II
on road to sainthood
by Gina Doggett


ROME, Mar. 27 (AFP) - The late pope John Paul II has moved a step closer to sainthood with the completion of the first stage towards his beatification, Rome diocesan officials said Tuesday.

A dossier containing proof of his miraculous intercession to cure a French nun of Parkinson's disease will be submitted to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of the Saints next Monday, the second anniversary of the death of the charismatic Polish pope.

The "miracle", if certified by the Vatican body, will qualify John Paul II for beatification, the main stepping stone to becoming a saint.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, spearheading the process, said the Rome diocese was "spoiled for choice" among dozens of reported miracle cures attributed to John Paul II, of which about 20 warranted serious consideration.

Monsignor Mauro Parmeggiani, secretary-general of the Rome diocese, said "it was not a coincidence" that it chose to focus on the case of the French nun, who suffered from the same malady as John Paul II himself.

Addressing a packed news conference, Parmeggiani said Parkinson's, a degenerative neurological disease, lends itself well to making a cut-and-dried case.

The nun, so far unnamed, will attend a solemn ceremony next Monday, the second anniversary of John Paul II's death, along with about 1,000 other nuns from her diocese, when the dossier is handed over to the Vatican's saint-making body, Parmeggiani said.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski will also attend, he said.

The landmark event will be celebrated at the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, the seat of the vicar of Rome - a position held ex-officio by the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The pope's candidacy for beatification has enjoyed fast-track treatment since his successor Pope Benedict XVI waived the usual five-year waiting period, allowing the process to begin in May 2005, the month after his death.

The quickest procedure to date was that for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was beatified in 2003, six years after her death, after John Paul II himself waived the waiting period - which is intended to prevent sentiments from clouding judgement soon after the death of a beloved candidate.

John Paul II is himself known as the greatest "saint maker" in the history of the Catholic Church, creating 482 saints.

"The exceptional speed of the conclusion of this first stage responds to popular demand shared by millions of faithful and by cardinals," said Parmeggiani, adding that Benedict XVI could even decide to skip the beatification stage and proceed straight to sainting his predecessor.

While the process leading to sainthood usually takes decades if not centuries, mourners at John Paul II's funeral in April 2005 called for him to be canonised immediately, chanting "Santo Subito!"

"Speed doesn't mean a lack of rigour," Parmeggiani was quick to add, saying the dossier was compiled "in strict observance of Church rules."

Convincing evidence of a miracle - usually a medical cure with no scientific explanation - is essential in the beatification process. A second miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession, or petition to God on behalf of another, is usually necessary for full sainthood.

The Rome diocese's website carries dozens of testimonials from individuals claiming cures at the hands of the pope, but to qualify as a miracle by Vatican standards the recovery must be sudden, complete and permanent - as well as inexplicable by doctors.

The French nun was reportedly cured of Parkinson's disease in October 2005 after prayers to John Paul II following his death.

Oder said a number of inexplicable recoveries from cancer as well as "miraculous pregnancies" were among the potential miracles reviewed.

For example an Italian woman's prayers to John Paul II were answered after her water broke well before her pregnancy came to term, and she went on to bear a healthy baby after her amniotic fluid was miraculously restored, he said.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/03/2007 21.42]

Graphologist called as witness for late pope's sainthood cause

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) -- In connection with the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II, a graphologist and a psychiatrist were called as expert witnesses in the investigation into the presumed healing of a nun suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Msgr. Slawomir Oder, the postulator of Pope John Paul's cause, said the French diocese where the nun lives concluded its investigation March 23 and would hand all its documentation to the Congregation for Saints' Causes in early April.

Msgr. Oder spoke to reporters March 27 about the status of the cause and plans for the formal conclusion of the Rome diocesan phase of the process April 2, the second anniversary of Pope John Paul's death.

The postulator said the French nun, whose identity has not been revealed, would participate in the April 2 prayer service and attend the memorial Mass Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate in St. Peter's Basilica in the evening.

He said the French investigation into the nun's healing was conducted "with maximum seriousness ... and a bit of the French critical attitude, which is quite useful for this kind of procedure."

The proposal to recognize that the nun was healed spontaneously and completely of Parkinson's disease -- the same disease that afflicted Pope John Paul -- was strengthened by the critical approach the French took, he said.

In addition to interviewing the nun, her superiors and her physicians, he said, the French diocese also had her undergo a psychiatric evaluation and had a graphologist examine samples of things she had written by hand immediately before and after the alleged healing June 2, 2005.

One of the indicators physicians use to determine the progression of Parkinson's disease, he said, is the deterioration of a patient's handwriting.


"I had the opportunity to see these documents and it was amazing. It was amazing, for example, to see the last document written before that event that changed the sister's life," he said.

The last document was "a kind of plea" for help, he said.

She simply wrote, "John Paul II" in French, but it "is practically illegible. Illegible," he said.

The second document is the account she wrote the next morning about what had happened, he said. "It is similar to the handwriting she had before the appearance of the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease," he said.

The psychiatric evaluation "was one of the most difficult aspects of this procedure," Msgr. Oder said, and is something not usually requested as part of the procedure to verify a miracle.

"The sister was fantastic in cooperating, even though she said it was a very difficult moment for her," he said, but the diocese wanted to be sure that the improvement in her condition could not be attributed to her mental state.

The April 2 conclusion of the Rome diocesan portion of Pope John Paul's cause does not mean the process is nearing completion, Msgr. Oder said.

The Rome Diocese will give the Vatican the testimony collected from more than 120 people who knew the pope in Poland and in Rome, a theological evaluation of his published works that did not involve an exercise of his papal ministry and a review of unpublished written materials, including letters and retreat talks, Msgr. Oder said.

The postulator still has to compile the multi-volume "positio," or position paper, outlining how Pope John Paul heroically lived the Christian virtues.

While Pope Benedict set aside the normal five-year waiting period before the canonization process could begin, even the diocesan phase and the investigation of a possible miracle were completed in almost record time, said Msgr. Mauro Parmeggiani, secretary-general of the Vicariate of Rome.

Msgr. Oder added, "The rapidity does not mean a lack of seriousness."

Msgr. Parmeggiani told reporters that with the exception of "the dispensation of the waiting period for the opening of the process, in this procedure no other dispensation was given. The entire procedure has been and is taking place with strict observance of all canonical norms."

Msgr. Oder said that on a personal level he shared the hope of many people that Pope John Paul would soon be declared a saint, "but the church has its traditions and juridical processes" and he expects those to continue normally.

Nun in late pope's beatification named
By PHILIPPE SOTTO


PARIS, Mar. 28 (AP) - Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre is the French nun whose testimony of a mystery cure from Parkinson's disease will likely be accepted as the miracle the Vatican needs to beatify Pope John Paul II, an official at the Paris maternity hospital where she works said Wednesday.

The identity of the nun has been one of the Catholic Church's most closely guarded secrets. The nun says that she was cured of Parkinson's after she and her community of nuns prayed to John Paul.

The nun, a member of the "Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Motherhood" in Aix-en-Provence in southeast France, works at the Sainte-Felicite hospital in Paris, the official said on condition of anonymity because an official announcement was expected Sunday.

In Rome, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish cleric spearheading the John Paul's beatification cause, said the bishop in the woman's diocese would announce details about her case during his Palm Sunday Mass this weekend.

French newspaper Le Figaro, in an unsourced report late Wednesday on its Web site, first identified the nun by name, saying she was 45 years old.

The nun is traveling to Rome for ceremonies Monday marking the second anniversary of the pontiff's death and the closure of a church investigation into his life which began after chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood Now!" erupted during John Paul's 2005 funeral.

The Vatican's saint-making process requires that John Paul's life and writings be studied for its virtues. The Vatican also requires that a miracle attributed to his intercession be confirmed, before he can be beatified — the last formal step before possible sainthood.

Pope Benedict XVI announced in May 2005 that he was waiving the traditional five-year waiting period and allowing the beatification process to begin. There is still no word on when any beatification or canonization might occur.

Only one document about the long-mysterious nun's experience has been made public: an article she wrote for "Totus Tuus," the official magazine of John Paul's beatification case.

She wrote of being diagnosed with Parkinson's in June 2001, having a strong spiritual affinity for John Paul because he too suffered from the disease and suffering worsened symptoms in the weeks after the pope died on April 2, 2005.

The nuns of her community prayed for her, and exactly two months after the pontiff's death, she awoke in the middle of the night cured, she wrote.


AP'S FOLLOW-UP STORY:


John Paul sainthood nun
'gentle, simple'
By JOHN LEICESTER


PARIS, Mar. 29 (AP) - The French nun whose testimony of a mystery cure from Parkinson's disease could prompt the Roman Catholic Church to beatify Pope John Paul II is a gentle, simple woman who is "deeply moved" by what has happened to her, a priest who knows her said Thursday.

Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre's identity had been kept quiet until Wednesday, when a French newspaper published her name.

Some of her colleagues in the church were still reluctant Thursday to talk much about her.

But the Rev. Robert Aliger, a spokesman for the Diocese of Aix-en-Provence, described a humble nun who went through an "incredible" experience — an unexplained recovery from Parkinson's after she and her community of nuns prayed to John Paul.

"All those that knew her before and after see clearly that she is cured," he said in a telephone interview.

The diocese in southeast France finished its yearlong investigation into the nun's claims last week and will present its conclusions in Rome.

Its investigation was based on medical records, blood-test results, X-rays and doctors' reports, "so that the bishop can present a solid dossier in Rome," Aliger said.

"It's a voluminous dossier," he said. "There are five boxes — I saw them — of originals and a big box of X-rays."

The nun "had tears in her eyes" at the closing session of the investigation, he added.

"She is a gentle, reserved woman," he said. "She is a very simple, very ordinary person who is, I think, deeply moved by what happened to her."

The nun also underwent a psychiatric evaluation and had her handwriting analyzed, since a change in handwriting is a classic symptom of Parkinson's disease, the Rome-based cleric spearheading her cause, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, said this week.

Normally, psychiatric evaluations are not typical for church investigations into purported miracles, but Oder said church officials wanted to be particularly sure in this case and that the results were "very reassuring."

[I have omitted paragraphs already reported in the previous story]

The Vatican's saint-making process requires that John Paul's life and writings be studied for its virtues. The Vatican also requires that a miracle attributed to his intercession be confirmed, before he can be beatified — the last formal step before possible sainthood.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/03/2007 20.48]

Look what you can find in a gardening catalog! Thanks to Drew at the Shrine of the Holy Whapping for the tip.


Pope John Paul II Hybrid Tea Rose


Our magnificent flowering tribute to one of the world's most beloved leaders (10% of net sales go to causes that were near to the Pontiff's heart).

This elegant rose now grows in the Vatican private garden, and you can enjoy it in your garden, too! Quickly becoming recognized by growers as one of the finest white hybrid teas of all time, the Pope John Paul II rose produces luminous, large white blossoms that boast up to 50 petals. They slowly spiral open to reveal perfect hybrid tea form and a powerful, fresh citrus aroma. This champion rose has already won top ratings throughout the world for its luscious fragrance, robust growth and outstanding bloom form. A vigorous New Generation® rose. Exclusive. (Var: JACsegra, PPAF)
4'-5' H / White / Pointed ovoid buds / 5" blooms / 50 petals / 16"-20" stems / Glossy, dark green foliage / Strong, citrus fragrance / Full sun / Shipped bareroot

==============================================================

I can almost smell it!

For its curiosity value:
Avvenire uses the snapshot (year not stated but
obviously early in JP-II's Papacy) in connection
with a report about the 17th century Palazzo Silva
in Domodossola, northwestern Italy, which has
opened a contemporary art gallery that includes
some of Warhol's famous serigraphs from the 1960s.
The photograph with John Paul comes from a museum
panel about Warhol.

Here are the AP and Reuters stories of the news confernce at which John Paul's miracle nun was introoduced to the world. Following these two stories, AFP, the Times of London and CBC (Canadian Broadcasting) have since filed their own reports. But since there is no new detail or angle in the subsequent stories, I think posting them is superfluous .


French nun's mysterious recovery
By ELAINE GANLEY


Left, Aix-en-Provence Archbishop Claude Feidt, foreground, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre,
and Father Vincent Feroldi at the news conference.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Mar. 30 (AP) - Parkinson's — the same disease her beloved Pope John Paul II suffered — robbed Sister Marie Simon-Pierre of her ability to walk, drive or even write.

Then, in one night of prayer and mystery which the Vatican may accept as the miracle it needs to beatify the pope, the French nun's symptoms vanished.

"John Paul II cured me," the 46-year-old nun said Friday, smiling serenely as she spoke for the first time in public about her experience.

"It is difficult for me to explain to you in words ... It was too strong, too big. A mystery."

Described as a gentle, reserved woman who had hoped to keep her identity secret, the nun coped well with the media spotlight. She looked a little bemused as journalists huddled around her, putting microphones in place. She smiled and held up her left hand, which, she said, had hung limply at her side before her recovery.

Only momentarily, when describing how her symptoms worsened after the pope's death on April 2, 2005, did she lose a little of her poise.

"Please excuse me, I'm a little emotional," she said.

But many questions remained unanswered — not least whether she herself considers her experience to be miraculous.

That "is for the church to say," came her firm reply. "All I can tell you is that I was sick and now I am cured."

The nun said she comes from a family of practicing Catholics in the Cambrai region of northern France — but she refused to be more precise about her hometown than that. She has four younger sisters and brothers and had always been an admirer of John Paul, who became pontiff when she was 17.

"He was, in a way, my pope, the pope of our generation," she said.

His courage in the face of Parkinson's inspired her — but she couldn't bear to watch him on TV. Seeing him frail and hunched by the disease was a too-stark foretaste of her own future.

"I saw myself in the years to come, to be honest, in a wheel chair," she said. When he died, "I felt as if I had lost a friend."

"He was extraordinary," she added. "I wish only to pay homage to him."

Exactly two months after his death, on June 2, 2005, the nun said she could bear her worsening illness no more. She told her mother superior that she could no longer do her job at a maternity ward near Aix-en-Provence in southern France.

The mother superior's reaction was somewhat surprising: She told the nun to write down John Paul's name on a piece of paper. She did — and it was practically illegible, the sister said.

The Little Sisters of Catholic Maternities, the nun's community, all prayed together to the late pontiff. After evening prayers, she went to her room. There, she said, an inner voice urged her to write again.

"I wrote a little bit and, upon seeing my handwriting, I said to myself, 'That's strange. Your writing is very readable,'" she said.

She went to sleep and woke at about 4:30 in the morning.

"I bounded out of bed, and I felt completely transformed. I was no longer the same inside," she said. To a fellow nun, she said, "'Look, my hand is no longer shaking. John Paul II has cured me."

She said she has been medication-free since that day.

"My life has totally changed. For me, it is a bit like a second birth," the sister said. "I had the impression I was rediscovering my body."

Before John Paul can be beatified — the last formal step before possible sainthood — the Vatican requires that a miracle attributed to his intercession be confirmed. A second miracle would be needed for sainthood.

The nun is to travel to Rome for ceremonies Monday marking the second anniversary of the pontiff's death and the closure of a church investigation into his life. At that time, a thick green file bound in a red ribbon containing the findings of a yearlong study of the case will be presented by a delegation led by Archbishop Claude Feidt.

The file, which includes testimony from five experts, three of them neurologists, will be reviewed by a special non-Vatican committee. A favorable response would send the case on to Pope Benedict XVI, the only one who can declare the case a miracle.

Pope Benedict XVI waived the customary five-year waiting period for the sainthood procedure to begin in response to popular demand that began with chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood Now!" during John Paul's funeral.


HERE'S THE REUTERS STORY:

Nun credits John Paul
for sudden healing
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor




AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Mar. 30 (Reuters) - A French Catholic nun who said her Parkinson's disease disappeared after she prayed to the late Pope John Paul declined to call her restored health a miracle on Friday.

But she insisted: "I was ill and now I am healed."

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, 46, told journalists she had suffered for four years and was about to quit work as a maternity ward supervisor in this southeastern city when she suddenly found her hand was calm enough to write clearly again.

Her recovery could be central to a drive to beatify John Paul, putting him one step away from sainthood. The Catholic Church demands proof of a medically unexplained healing to give that honor and a second such case to declare him a saint.

Slightly nervous before a wall of cameras, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre spoke glowingly of the late Polish Pontiff as an inspiration because of his very public suffering from Parkinson's before his death on April 2, 2005.

"All I can say is that I was ill and now I am healed," said the nun, who wore a white habit and veil with a black sweater and walked to and from the news conference with ease.

"It's up to the Church to say whether it was a miracle."

She had no doubt about how she interpreted her recovery. "My healing was the work of God through the intercession of John Paul," Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said.

She said she and her fellow nuns had prayed to John Paul for her recovery after his death and linked her healing on June 2, 2005, to him. The Church teaches that Catholics can pray to the dead to intercede with God to perform a miracle on Earth.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease that begins with tremors and poor balance.

Aix-en-Provence Archbishop Claude Feidt said he would hand over a thick volume of documents on the case to the Vatican on Monday, the second anniversary of John Paul's death. Sister Marie Simon-Pierre was due to accompany him.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said her neurologist was astounded when he saw her walk into his office normally five days after her sudden change.

"He said, 'Sister, what have you done to get to be this way? Have you doubled your dose of dopamine'?" she recounted, referring to the medicine she was taking.

"I said, no, doctor, I've stopped all that."

Father Luc-Marie Lalanne, who led the inquiry in the Aix-en-Provence archdiocese, said a psychiatrist and three neurologists - two of them university professors - had testified they could not explain the nun's recovery.

The nun said she continued work as supervisor of her 40-bed maternity ward near Aix-en-Provence, until she was transferred last year to another maternity ward in Paris run by her order.

Lalanne said he had no idea how long the Vatican would take to examine the nun's case and whether it would be recognized as a miracle. Church experts in Rome expect it to be approved.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said she wanted to meet the media because John Paul had never avoided journalists. "He never shied away from the cameras. That gave me strength," she said.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 31/03/2007 1.20]

Massgoers in Mexico City anticipate Pope John Paul II's death anniversary tomorrow .


On road to sainthood,
John Paul II's death marked Monday
by Martine Nouaille



VATICAN CITY, April 1 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass Monday to mark the second anniversary of the death of John Paul II, on the same day the late pontiff is set to move a step closer to sainthood.

A solemn midday (1000 GMT) ceremony at Rome's Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano will mark the completion of the first stage towards the beatification of the charismatic Polish pope.

John Paul II's candidacy for beatification has enjoyed fast-track treatment since his successor waived the usual five-year waiting period, allowing the process to begin in May 2005, the month after he died.

A "diocesan inquiry on the life, virtues and reputation for saintliness of God's servant Karol Wojtyla" - the late pope's name - will be concluded on Monday.

A dossier containing proof of his miraculous intercession to cure a French nun of Parkinson's disease will be submitted to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

The "miracle", if certified by the Vatican body, will qualify the late pope for beatification, the main stepping stone to becoming a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, the 46-year-old French nun whose testimony could provide evidence of a posthumous miracle, is due to attend the ceremony.

"I was sick and now I am cured. It's up to the Church to say whether this is a miracle," she said at her first news conference Friday, in the southern French city of Aix en Provence.

Convincing evidence of a miracle - usually a medical cure with no scientific explanation - is essential in the beatification process.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre had been suffering from Parkinson's, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, since 2001. She has testified that she was cured in June 2005 after praying to John Paul II, whose final years were marked by the disease.

A second stage in the beatification inquiry will now begin at the Vatican.

Later Monday, Pope Benedict will celebrate a mass in memory of his predecessor, who died on April 2, 2005, aged 84, at Saint Peter's Basilica whose crypt houses John Paul II's marble tomb.

The site, which is just metres from the tomb of the Apostle Peter, has become a place of pilgrimage for the faithful, also feeding a lucrative business in religious souvenirs.

John Paul II who enjoyed wide international popularity, even becoming known as the "people's pope", reigned for 27 years and is still the subject of many books and DVDs retracing his life and work.

Among them is "John Paul II, My Beloved Predecessor", a recently published book by Pope Benedict of letters, homilies and other texts written mostly before being elected as his successor.

One photo in the book shows the German pope when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger blessing the late pontiff's coffin watched by other cardinals at the funeral, several days before the conclave that elected him pope.

Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul II's personal secretary for nearly 40 years and is now the archbishop of Krakow in southern Poland, has also released a memoir, "A Life with Karol."

But the late pontiff's huge popularity in his native Poland has not prevented the Polish Church becoming embroiled in a crisis following claims that some clergymen collaborated with the communist-era security services.

And criticism of John Paul II voiced when he was still alive - accused by some of excess moral rigorism, and by others of being too accommodating towards other religions - did not disappear on his death.

These "contrary voices" have been taken into account in the beatification process, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, spearheading the process, has said.

=============================================================

Here is how the Times of London reported on Sister Marie Simon-Pierre on 3/30/07:

The discreet little nun
who could speed John Paul to sainthood
By Adam Sage in Paris and Richard Owen in Rome


A French nun will be thrust into the global limelight today when Catholic Church authorities explain that her purported recovery from Parkinson’s disease can be attributed to the miraculous intervention of Pope John Paul II.

The sudden return to health of Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre after she scrawled Pope John Paul’s name on a piece of paper is being hailed as the post-humous miracle needed to set the late Pope on the road towards sainthood.

The case of the 45-year-old nun, described by nurses as “a discreet little nun”, will be submitted to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints along with a list of Pope John Paul’s “heroic virtues” next week.

Her dossier was selected from among 130 allegedly miraculous cures sent to the Vatican to bolster his claim for beatification. Under Vatican rules one miracle is needed to approve a beatification and two for a sainthood.

The Rome Diocese said it chose her because the recovery was clear-cut and unexplained by medical science and because she was suffering from the same malady as Pope John Paul.

Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, from Puyricard, near Aixen-Provence, in southern France, lsaid she was struck by Parkinson’s disease in 2001. Her condition worsened over the next four years and, by the time the Pope died in April 2005, she was unable to stand or walk. She had stopped working as a nurse in a Paris maternity hospital and was confined to office activities.

Two months later she tried to write down John Paul II’s name as she prayed to him for help “but all that came out was a scribble,” she said in an account sent to the Vatican.

However, that evening, the “miracle” occurred.

“I fell asleep and, waking up several hours later, felt that the illness had disappeared,” said Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre.

She leapt out of bed and went to the chapel to pray.

“I felt a profound sense of peace and wellbeing. My hand did not tremble anymore.” Four days later the doctor who had been treating her for four years declared that the symptoms had vanished completely, with no medical explanation.

Father Slawomir Oder, the Polish prelate in charge of John Paul II’s beatification claim, said handwriting experts had compared the nun’s “illegible scribble” on the day of her prayer with her “perfectly legible and comprehensible” writing the next morning. He said doctors in France had become convinced of the miraculous nature of her cure. Psychologists had also conducted tests to prove she had no psychiatric problems.

Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre is expected to be among thousands of other nuns at the Basilica of St John Lateran in Rome on Monday for a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of John Paul’s death.

********************

Making saints

— After death, candidates for canonisation are put forward by the bishop of their diocese, who will present evidence that they have lived a life of “heroic virtue”. They can then be declared a Servant of God and given the title “Venerable”

— To ascend to beatification candidates must either be determined to have died a martyr or they must perform one verifiable posthumous miracle

— The miracle is determined by a team of Vatican investigators that includes relevant experts (doctors, if the miracle involved healings) and theologians

— To be canonised and considered a saint a second miracle must occur. The final decision is the Pope’s

Source: The Vatican. Catholic Communications Office

================================================================

AP has a very informative pre-anniversary story:

John Paul sainthood reaching milestone
By NICOLE WINFIELD


VATICAN CITY, April 1 (AP) - Catholic Church officials reach a key milestone in the drive to make Pope John Paul II a saint Monday, closing an investigation into his life and handing over a dossier detailing the purported miraculous cure of a nun who prayed to him.

The events come two years to the day after John Paul died — a remarkably fast pace that underscores the church's keen interest in beatifying John Paul and responding to the calls of "Santo Subito" or "Sainthood Immediately!" that erupted after his death.

Pope Benedict XVI put John Paul on the fast track for possible sainthood just weeks after his April 2, 2005, death, when he waived the customary five-year waiting period and allowed the investigation into his predecessor's virtues to begin immediately.

Such a waiver had only been granted once before, to Mother Teresa.

Benedict will not attend Monday's ceremony at the St. John Lateran basilica to close the investigation into John Paul's life, a key step in the process of beatification and canonization. He was, however, scheduled to celebrate a Mass later in the day at St. Peter's Basilica to mark the second anniversary of John Paul's death.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish prelate who is spearheading the beatification cause, acknowledged recently that his probe was completed unusually quickly — particularly considering the vast amount of material that had to be collected.

About 130 people were interviewed, historians gathered books about John Paul from libraries around the globe, and theologians studied his private writings to determine if he ever wrote anything heretical.

Critics also had a voice, although Oder said the vast majority of the criticism was not against John Paul as a person but against some aspect of his teachings or church doctrine. "To tell the truth, this doesn't weigh heavily on the merit of the process itself," he said.

Such complicated investigations often take decades or centuries, not a matter of months.

"But speed doesn't mean a lack of seriousness," Oder said. "Aside from the dispensation of the delay to start the process, we have not sought any other waiver."

Indeed, he dismissed renewed calls by John Paul's longtime private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, Poland, to proceed to canonization immediately, saying the church's procedures must be respected.

John Paul's cause has been bolstered by the testimony of a French nun, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's disease after she and her fellow sisters prayed to the late pope.

The nun, 46, emerged from secrecy last week, telling a news conference in France that she felt reborn when she woke up two months after John Paul died, cured of the disease that the pope himself had lived with.

The Vatican's complicated saint-making procedures require that a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession be confirmed before beatification. A second miracle is necessary for canonization.

Simon-Pierre is expected to attend Monday's events in Rome and to be on hand as her superiors deliver to the Vatican the documentation supporting her testimony about the purported miracle.

After receiving the documentation, the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints will appoint medical experts to determine if there are medical explanations for the cure. Theologians will then determine if the cure came as a result of prayer to John Paul.

If panels of bishops and cardinals agree that John Paul led a virtuous life and that Simon-Pierre was indeed miraculously cured, they will forward the case to Benedict. He will then decide if his predecessor deserves to be beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood.

Beatification allows the candidate to be called "Blessed" and honored locally or in a limited way in the liturgy.

Canonization is an infallible declaration by the pope that a person who was virtuous to a heroic degree in life is now in heaven and worthy of honor and veneration by all the faithful.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2007 0.36]

Faithful line up to visit John Paul's grave in the Vatican grottoes today; right, one of the late Pope's last public activities - taken March 6, 2004 .

Cardinal Dsiwisz at John Paul's grave after saying Mass this morning; right, miracle nun Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre at the Mass today
that formally concluded diocesan investigation into the late Pope's beatification cause

John Paul sainthood bid
reaches landmark
By Philip Pullella



VATICAN CITY, Apr. 2 (Reuters) - Pope John Paul's sainthood bid reached a landmark on Monday as investigators offered evidence of a purported miracle and a cardinal suggested it should be speeded up because there was no doubt of his sanctity.

At a ceremony including solemn oaths and sacred rituals on the second anniversary of his death, Catholic officials formally concluded the first phase of a probe into his life and holiness.

The Rome diocese gave the Vatican tens of thousands of pages of documents and transcripts which propose that John Paul should be beatified, the last step before sainthood.

Two years is an unusually short time for the completion of the first phase of a sainthood cause, which can usually take decades or, in some cases, even centuries.

The evidence gathered and symbolically handed over at a ceremony at Rome's Basilica of St John includes testimony from some 130 people as well as scrutiny of his life, spoken words and writings.

Most significantly, it includes the case of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a 46-year-old French nun diagnosed with Parkinson's - the same disease that the late Pope had - until she said it inexplicably disappeared two months after his death.

Simon-Pierre, who worked as a maternity ward supervisor in Aix-En-Provence, could be central to the case since the Church demands proof of a medically unexplained healing before a candidate can be beatified.

The documentation prepared by the Rome and Krakow dioceses will now be reviewed by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

If the Vatican rules the cure of Simon-Pierre a miracle, another would be required before sainthood is bestowed.

Many Catholics are convinced of John Paul's sanctity, a belief that was stressed by the late pope's former secretary in a mass just after dawn at the pope's crypt in St Peter's Basilica.

"The faith of the people of God clearly recognizes his sanctity," said Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who in the past has suggested that Pope Benedict should skip the beatification stage for his predecessor and move directly to sainthood.

"John Paul II was a member of the friends of Jesus, that is, the group of saints," Dziwisz said.

Crowds at John Paul's funeral in April 2005 chanted "Santo Subito" ("Make him a saint now").

In May, 2005, Pope Benedict put John Paul on the fast track by dispensing with Church rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period after a candidate's death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can even start.

On Monday afternoon Pope Benedict will say a Mass in the Vatican commemorating John Paul and may hint of whether he is considering any other dispensations.

At a news conference on Friday in France, the nun spoke glowingly of the late Polish Pontiff as an inspiration because of his very public suffering from Parkinson's.

"My healing was the work of God through the intercession of John Paul," she said.

She said she and her fellow nuns had prayed to John Paul for her recovery after his death and linked her healing to him. The Church teaches that Catholics can pray to the dead to intercede with God to perform a miracle on Earth.



An earlier story by AP:

'Miracle nun' on hand
for second anniversary of pope's death
by Gina Doggett


ROME, Apr. 2 (AFP) - A French nun "miraculously" cured of Parkinson's disease from beyond the grave by John Paul II was to attend a solemn ceremony Monday concluding the first phase of the Polish pope's beatification process.

The ceremony will see the Vatican accept a thick dossier compiled by the Rome diocese on John Paul II's "life, virtues and reputation for saintliness" including the testimony of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, 46, who attributes her sudden recovery to intercession by the late pope.

The event - on the second anniversary of John Paul II's death, himself from Parkinson's - has drawn thousands more pilgrims than usual, many clamouring for "instant sainthood" for the charismatic figure who reigned for nearly 27 years.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican department concerned with sainthood, is under enormous pressure to expedite the process - one that usually takes decades, if not centuries.

Asked whether John Paul II could skip the step of beatification - which would be unprecedented in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church - Martins told the daily La Repubblica: "Only the pope (Benedict XVI) has the unchallengeable power to pronounce on such a delicate matter."

At this juncture, the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints is tasked "exclusively" with "verifying ... all the expected requirements for proclaiming" John Paul II's beatification. "And no more," Martins said.

Convincing evidence of a miracle -- usually a medical cure with no scientific explanation -- is essential in the beatification process.

Sister Simon-Pierre was diagnosed with Parkinson's, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, in 2001. She has testified that she was cured in June 2005 after praying to John Paul II, whose final years were marked by the disease.

John Paul II's candidacy for beatification - the main stepping stone to becoming a saint - has enjoyed fast-track treatment since Benedict waived the usual five-year waiting period, allowing the process to begin in May 2005, the month after he died.

The ceremony to hand over the dossier - which contains thousands of pages -- is set for noon (1000 GMT) at Rome's Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.

Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul II's personal secretary for nearly 40 years and is now the archbishop of Krakow in southern Poland, will also attend.

Later Monday, Pope Benedict will celebrate a mass at Saint Peter's Basilica in memory of his predecessor, who died on April 2, 2005, aged 84.

He is buried in the basilica's crypt just metres from the tomb of the Apostle Peter, and his grave has become a place of pilgrimage.

The quickest beatification procedure to date was that for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was beatified in 2003, six years after her death, after John Paul II himself waived the waiting period - which is intended to prevent sentiments from clouding judgement soon after the death of a beloved candidate.

John Paul II is himself known as the greatest "saint maker" in the history of the Catholic Church, creating 482 saints.

The late pope's beatification process has not all been plain sailing. In December 2005, 11 dissident Catholic theologians insisted in a letter to the Vatican that the "negative" effects of his pontificate be investigated.

In particular they cited his rigidly conservative stand on issues such as contraception in a time of AIDS, the role of women and sexual abuse scandals within the Church.

"Contrary voices" have been taken into account in the beatification process, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, spearheading the process, has said.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2007 14.34]

PETRUS has a first account of Cardinal Ruini's homily at the Mass that concluded the diocesan investigation into the cause of John Paul II's beatification. Here is a translation:

ROME - "A complete and fully realized man," "an exemplary model of dedication towards his fellow men", " "a spontaneous communicator of the Gospel" - these were some of the words by Cardinal Camillo Ruini today to describe the servant of God John Paul II in a homily delivered at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The occasion was the formal closing of the diocesan investigations into the late Pope's beatification cause on the second anniversary of his death.

In what he called a 'meditation' on the death of John Paul II, Cardinal Ruini - who served as his Vicar for Rome (as he continues to do for Benedict XVI) - noted that "at the beginning, in the center, and at the summit" of any consideration about the late Pope, "is always his personal relationship with God - a relationship that already appeared quite strong, intimate and profound in his boyhood years, and later did not cease to grow, to become more robust, to be fruitful in all the dimensions of his life."

"Everyone who knew him - from up close or even from afar - was struck by the richness of his humanity, his full realization as a human being, but even more illuminating and significant was that such fullness of humanity coincided with his relationship with God, in other words, with his saintliness."

The 'appetite' and the 'joy' for prayer that Karol Wojtyla had, "even as a boy and up to his hours of agony"; his "extraordinary interior freedom" which made him "a man of concrete and radical poverty" - these, Ruini said, were the other characteristics of a man of God "who lived in poverty, spontaneously and effortlessly, who seemed never to need anything, and was completely detached from material things."

And being "detached and free even of himself, he never looked for success or autonomous self-realization", and it was precisely this 'freedom from hiself that made him so open to others, always ready to listen adn even to accept criticism."

John Paul II was a Pope, Ruini said, "who knew how to be autonomous in making his definitive decisions, and above all, never hesitated to take difficult positions out of fear of reactions from elements hostile to the Church, during the years of his ministry in Poland, nor fear of misundestanding or hostility from the dominant public opinion in the years of his Pontificate."

Runi reviewed the Pope's pontificate in terms of his apostolic travels and of the sufffering that marked his later years. He
recalled that John Paul II as Bishop of Rome had visited 333 Roman parishes in all, and that one of the things he most regretted when his health had failed was being unable to continue with these visits.

Speaking of the Pope's last days, Ruini recounted: "When, on the morning of Easter Sunday, he could not manage to say the words to give his blessing from his window to the crowd in St. Peter's Square, he whispered to Mons. Dsiwisz, 'Maybe it would be better to die now if I cannot do the task I am entrusted with,' to which he then added, "But Thy will be done, Lord - totus tuus!"

And on that April 2, two years ago, Ruini said: "As he had done all his life, he wanted to nourish himself on the Word of God and he asked that the Gospel of John be read to him. They got up to Chapter 9. Because even that day, with the aid of everyone around him, he went through all the prayers of the day - he performed a Eucharistic Adoration, a meditation, and even listened to a reading of the Office for the following day."

At one point, Ruini said, the Pope spoke in a very weak voice to Sr. Tobiana Sobotka, 'his true guardian angel,' to say: "Let me go to the Lord." And then he went into coma, and they celebrated in his room the pre-festive Mass for the Sunday of Divine Mercy.

"Divine Mercy", Ruini concluded," was at the center of his spirituality and His life, from which he learned how to conquer evil with good."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2007 18.39]

Angela Ambrogetti reports for PETRUS on Cardinal Dsiwisz's Mass this morning at the grave of John Paul II. Here is a translation:


After early morning Mass at John Paul's tomb, Cardinals Dsiwisz and Macharski attend the Diocesan Mass at St. John Lateran.


VATICAN CITY - "Gratitude to God and to the Holy Father Benedict XVI who allowed this process to happen within such a short period of time," answered Cardinal Stanislaw Dsizwisz when asked this morning what he felt on the second anniversary of John Paul II's death.

The Archbishop of Cracow, who was John Paul's personal secretary for 40 years, said Mass in the Vatican grottoes this morning near the late Pope's grave for about 200 faithful, mostly Polish.

Afterwards, he told newsmen: "For us, John Paul II is already a saint, but everything must be done according to the rules and regulations of the Church. We should not hurry so we will not later be accused of doing something that was improper or inappropriate."

[In recent weeks, Cardinal Dsiwisz had publicly expressed the wish that Pope Benedict XVI could waive the beatification stage and proceed directly to canonization. The Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, Cardinal SAraiva Martins said today that theoretically, the Pope had the power to decide that, but added that it was alwasy better to follow what canonical law prescribes.]"

Among the Polish prelates who came to Rome for th anniversary were Cardinal Macharski, Emeritus Archibishop of Cracow, and the new Archbishop of Warsaw, Kasimierez Nycz, who was installed quietly yesterday. They were present at the Mass, along with several Polish priests who live and work in Rome.

Also present were Suor Tobiana Sobota, the nun who took care of the late Pope's household and the other nuns who helped her; Mons. Mietek, who was Dsiwisz's assistant during the latter aprt of John Paul's Papacy adn who has stayed on as assistant personal secretary to Benedict XVI; and Angelo Gugel, who served as the Pope's valet and who retired in 2005 after serving Benedict XVI for a few months.

Dsiwisz told newsmen he had yet to meet Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, the nun who was miraculously cured of Parkinson's disease through John Paul's intercession.

He remarked that several similar cases have happened in other parts of the world and these should be seen as signs, as Sister Marie's cure shoudl be seen in France as 'a sign.'

He said he continues to feel the support and assistance of 'his' Pope. "When I have a problem, I always say, 'Holy Father, help me' - and I must say that I have never yet felt not protected by him, and I would advise you to pray to him as well."

In his homily, Dsiwisz spoke about the centrality of Christ in the life of Karol Wojtyla.



At St. John Lateran this morning: The Diocese of Rome consigned to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints all the documents pertaining to its investigations into the life and writings of John Paul-II as well as those on miracles attributed to him. At right, Cardinal Ruini signs the documents that formally close the diocesan phase of the investigation.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2007 18.30]

Scouts light candles forming a giant cross in front of the late
Pope John Paul II's portrait as people gather to pray on the
hour of his death, 21.37, marking the second anniversary of
the Polish-born John Paul's death in Warsaw


A group of Polish faithful, move a wooden statue of the late
Pope John Paul II, as they attend a mass led by Pope Benedict
XVI to mark the second anniversary of the death of the Polish
pope outside Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican


A man calling himself a guardian of a statue of Pope John
Paul II holds an image of the former Pope with the Virgin of
Guadalupe at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.


Two nuns hold a picture of the late Pope John Paul II as they
attend a mass led by Pope Benedict XVI to mark the second
anniversary of the death of the Polish pope in Saint Peter's
Square at the Vatican.


Faithful and pilgrims arrive for a ceremony in St. John
Basilica in Rome, Monday April 2, 2007, for the closure of
the investigation into the life of Pope John Paul II,
to make him a saint

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/04/2007 0.02]

AFP's wrap-up story of this anniversary day has new information I have not seen elsewhere!


John Paul II
a step closer to sainthood
by Gina Doggett


VATICAN CITY, April 2 (AFP) - The late John Paul II came closer to sainthood on Monday as the Rome diocese completed the case for his beatification, including a "miracle" cure attributed to the charismatic Polish pope.

The beatification process is "advancing rapidly", Pope Benedict XVI said as he celebrated mass in Saint Peter's Square to commemorate the second anniversary of the death of John Paul II.

Thousands of Poles were among the pilgrims attending the mass after a solemn ceremony at Rome's Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano earlier Monday in which the weighty dossier on the late pope's "life, virtues and reputation for saintliness" was sealed into special metal cases.

John Paul II spread "the aroma of faith, hope and charity in the Church and the entire world" during his nearly 27-year papacy, Benedict said, hailing his predecessor's "dimension of universality."

Vatican observers said the phrase suggested that Benedict was already thinking in terms of sainting the beloved pope in the near future.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican department concerned with sainthood, is under enormous pressure to expedite the process - one that usually takes decades, if not centuries.

Asked whether the Vatican could skip the step of beatification -which would be unprecedented in the modern history of the Roman Catholic Church - Martins told Italian media: "Only the pope has the unchallengeable power to pronounce on such a delicate matter."

He added: "If I were John Paul II, I myself would want an extremely rigorous investigation."

At this juncture, the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints is tasked "exclusively" with "verifying ... all the expected requirements for proclaiming" John Paul II's beatification "and no more," Martins said.

Central to the dossier is the testimony of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, 46, who attributes her sudden recovery from Parkinson's disease to the "miraculous" intercession by John Paul II from beyond the grave.

The pope - who himself died from Parkinson's disease - has been the subject of widespread calls for "instant sainthood," especially from Polish Catholics.

The Vatican is expected to take several months to review the dossier for beatification, which was put on the fast track when Benedict waived the usual five-year waiting period in May 2005.

John Paul II's longtime personal secretary Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz told reporters Monday however: "We are not in a hurry. The work should be done well."

Now the archbishop of Krakow, Dziwisz celebrated mass in the crypt of Saint Peter's Basilica, where John Paul II is buried just metres from the tomb of the Apostle Peter, a site that has become a magnet for pilgrims.

Convincing evidence of a miracle - usually a medical cure with no scientific explanation - is essential in the beatification process.

Sister Simon-Pierre, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, in 2001, has testified that she was cured in June 2005 after praying to John Paul II.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, speaking at the ceremony earlier Monday, which was also attended by Polish President Lech Kaczynski, referred to John Paul II's "holiness."

"All who knew him, from up close or even from a distance, were struck by the richness of his humanity," said Ruini in his capacity as the vicar of Rome, adding: "but even more illuminating and meaningful is the fact that this fullness of humanity coincided, to the end, with his relationship to God, in other words, with his holiness."

Kaczynski meanwhile told the Italian news agency ANSA that he was sure John Paul II would achieve sainthood before 2010 when he would have turned 90.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, had assured him that he would be able to "make a wonderful announcement to the Polish people ... before the end of (his) mandate," Kaczynski said.

When he asked if the announcement would be John Paul II's beatification or his canonisation, Bertone answered that "I know but I can't say," something Kaczynski took to mean that the late pope was being fast-tracked for canonisation.

The quickest beatification procedure to date was that for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was beatified in 2003, six years after her death, after John Paul II himself waived the waiting period - which is intended to prevent sentiments from clouding judgement soon after the death of a candidate.

A second miracle is required for sainthood.

John Paul II is himself known as the greatest "saint maker" in the history of the Catholic Church, creating 482 saints.

The late pope's beatification process has not all been plain sailing. In December 2005, 11 dissident Catholic theologians insisted in a letter to the Vatican that the "negative" effects of his pontificate be investigated.

In particular they cited his rigidly conservative stand on issues such as contraception in a time of AIDS, the role of women and sexual abuse scandals within the Roman Catholic Church.

The Italian papers today report widely on the observance yesterday of the second anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death. Although the stories play up the homilies given by boith Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Camillo Ruini in homage to the Polish Pope, they also singled out the same information
reported by AFP in its wrap-up above (preceding post) about a possible timetable for the pope's beatification or canonization.

I have chosen to translate Corriere della Sera's report as representative of the rest.


What Cardinal Bertone told the Polish president:
An announcement by October 2008?

VATICAN CITY - Papa Wojtyla will be proclaimed either "Blessed" or "Saint" by 2010. This prediction took shape yesterday on the second anniversary of his death - based on an indiscretion and on reasonable estimates - between the formal closure of the first investigative phase for his beatification cause in late morning and Pope Benedict's celebration of a me,orial Mass in St. Peter's Square in late afternoon.

The 'indiscretion' came from Polish President Lech Kaczynski after meeting with Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, yesterday morning. Kaczynski then told a news conference at the Polish embassy of an exchange he had with Bertone.

Kaczynski asked Bertone if he could expect to see a conclusion of Papa Wojtyla's canonical cause before his presidential term ends in December 2010, and he says Bertone replied: "Yes, before then, you will be able to bring very good news to the Polish people."

When Kaczynski asked whether that meant beatification or canonization, Bertone reportedly said: "I know, but I can't tell you."

Kaczynski's aides interpreted Bertone's statements to be a prediction of canonization by 2010. And Poles seem to thnk that the appropriate date would be October 16, 2008, which would mark the 30th anniversary of Wojtyla's election as Pope. But canon law experts think that is too soon.

Some conjectures coincide with the timetable stated by Kaczynski. If the Vatican phase of the investigation lasts 3 years, after the two years that the diocean phase took, the entire process would come to 5 years, which was the time required for Mother Teresa to be beatified.

That was the fastest beatification course in modern history, promoted by Pope John Paul II himself who allowed the process to get underway without waiting for the canonical 5-year period after the person's death [as Benedict XVI would do with John Paul's cause].

"We must now examine all the documentation that has been put together," says Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints.

He adds, almost as though apologizing for the slowness of the process, "Of course, he was a saint, a living embodiment of the Gospel, and the slogan 'Santo subito' says what most believers feel, but this is not enough. One must verify everything as quickly as possible, but in accordance with the provisions of canon law."

Going by the Mother Teresa precedent, Wotyla's beatification process would end by 2010, as in Kaczynski's timetable. But will Karol Wojtyla be proclaimed Blessed or Saint at that time?

The canonical process is now aimed at beatification, but apparently, the Pope - once that process has been completed - has the power to proclaim him directly a saint.

This 'leap' has been proposed in public by Cardinal Stanislaw Dsiwisz who first did so in an interview with this newspaper last March 10. But it appears that the Pope has so far decided to go by the norms.

Experts at the Congregation for the Cause of Saints point out that how the Vatican phase of the investigation progresses will also influence whatever decision the Pope may take.

Speaking at the formal closure of the diocesan phase yesterday, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's Vicar for Rome, said the key to the 'holiness' of Papa Wojtyla was the 'synthesis of his faith in Christ and his passionate love for mankind...which characterized his whole life.'

Ruini also pointed out that Papa Wojtyla, like Pope Benedict now, always waged 'a great battle for human life, against abortion and for the family."

Il Corriere della sera, 3 aprile 2007

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/04/2007 15.11]

Avvenire's JP-II coverage in its 4/3/07 issue:

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/04/2007 3.18]

Rocco Palmo has a wonderful nostalgia trip today with pictures of Page-1 from some US newspapers on April 3, 2005, reporting the death of John Paul II.

For the record, I will post it here later (takes time to trans-load the photos and Monday morning before going to work is not the time to do it!), but for now, go take a look.

whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/

Surprise! The updated FFZ system apparently is reading the apostrophes, quotaiton marks and dashes in this piece properly!


Wojtyla's gospel meets the New York theater
All Things Catholic
by John L. Allen, Jr.
Friday, May 25, 2007

Of all the places to seek the legacy of Pope John Paul II, West 46th Street in midtown Manhattan, just off Broadway and Times Square, is not the most obvious spot to begin. Yet here, on the same block where aspiring actors queue up for auditions in the Actor's Equity building, and in the shadow of splashy billboards touting productions of "Legally Blonde" and Monty Python's "Spamalot," passers-by are met with a grainy black-and-white picture of an intense young Polish cleric, on a poster proclaiming "The Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival."

John Paul always was a pope of firsts, and even in death, he continues to break new ground. On May 16, John Paul II became the first pope to have his dramatic work staged in the heart of New York's Theatre District -- admittedly, off-off-Broadway, but geographically and culturally right in the middle of the Great White Way.

Between now and June 17, New York's Storm Theatre is presenting three works by Wojtyla: "The Jeweler's Shop," a three-act meditation on love and marriage; "Our God's Brother," the story of freedom-fighter-turned artist Adam Chmielowski, later known as Brother Albert, whose struggle between art and a religious vocation parallels Wojtyla's own biography; and "Jeremiah," an allegory about the Nazi occupation of Poland that mixes Old Testament and Polish history.

The deepest legacy of John Paul II, however, may be less expressed by a small theatre company staging his plays, than the fact that the Storm Theatre exists at all. As its 47-year-old co-founder and artistic director, a devout Catholic named Peter Dobbins, puts it: "The purpose of this theatre is to lead people to God."

Utterly unplanned by anyone in ecclesiastical officialdom, Dobbins' Storm Theatre is precisely the sort of spontaneous, grass-roots evangelization of culture that John Paul hoped to set loose -- confident in the Catholic message, audacious in its determination to "set out into the deep." Since 1997, the Storm Theatre has staged a series of well-reviewed productions. Some, such as "Murder in the Cathedral" and "The Power and the Glory," have explicitly religious themes, but more often they're secular works with a spiritual and moral undertone.

In a sense, the Storm Theatre is John Paul II's ad extra> model of the lay vocation in action. Dobbins isn't interested in reading at Mass, or working in a chancery; his more daring aim is to redeem the entertainment industry from the inside out.

The Wojtyla festival, it should be said, is hardly the lone religious presence on Broadway. Nearby is the Jewish Actor's Temple (which bills itself as a "Cool Shul"), as well as a Church of Scientology. On the Catholic side, St. Malachy's Parish on 49th Street, also known as the Actor's Chapel, serves New York's artistic community. The Storm Theatre itself rents space from the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin, built in 1894 as a physical expression of the tenets of the Oxford Movement -- an impulse which famously helped launch John Henry Neman's journey into the Catholic church.

In various forms, however, these are all ministries to theatre people. What makes the Storm Theatre unique is that, in effect, it's a ministry by theatre people.

Dobbins grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended Roman Catholic High School and Temple University. He developed a vocation for the theatre and drifted away from the faith. (As he puts it, "I lapsed pretty spectacularly.") Dobbins ended up in the prestigious Fine Arts program at Southern Methodist University in the late 1970s, whose all-star alumni include Kathy Bates, Powers Boothe, and Beth Henley. He said he went through a conversion experience triggered by being tossed out of SMU when he hit a wall as a student.

Ironically, Dobbins said he was led back to Christianity through the ubiquity of Eastern spirituality in the entertainment world.

"There's a lot of Eastern stuff that gets taught to you as an actor, relaxation techniques and so on. I began reading about Buddhism, and it was great, but when I picked up Christian writers, I found that they take it to another level. I always felt that Eastern spirituality goes in a circle, whereas Christianity breaks through it -- like a Cross, infinity in both directions."

Concretely, Dobbins said the books of C.S. Lewis were his point of departure, but what sealed the deal was reading Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton -- whose work Dobbins described as "Lewis to the zillionth power."

"This theater would never have existed if I hadn't read that book," Dobbins said. "It was literally like having a brain explosion."

Gripped by Chesterton's capacity to express the faith, Dobbins decided he wanted to try to do for the contemporary theater what Chesterton had done for early 20th century English letters. His Storm Theatre, founded in 1997, takes its name from a line in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus": "Now is a time to storm; why art thou still?" (Dobbins believes Shakespeare was a "great Catholic playwright.")

All of which brings us back to The Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival.

Dobbins said he first tripped across a copy of Wojtyla's plays 20 years ago in a Texas bookshop, and has had the idea of putting them on in the back of his mind ever since. At one level, he said, the motive for the festival is good business sense -- he figured putting on plays by the popular pope would guarantee an audience, and indeed, pre-sales have been the strongest in the theatre's history.

Yet, Dobbins insisted, Wojtyla's work stands on its own in terms of artistic merit. "The Jeweler's Shop," the first production in the festival, focuses on three couples: Andrew and Teresa, who have just become engaged; Anna and Stefan, married but estranged; and Monica and Christopher, the children of the two couples, trying to make things work despite some baggage from their parents.

"When you first read it, it seems very dense," Dobbins said. "But when we did a read-through with actors, I realized it plays entirely differently. It becomes extraordinarily light and beautiful. That's when I realized that this guy knew what he was doing. He had craft."

Dobbins is aware of the criticism -- both of Wojtyla's plays, and of John Paul's later works as pope -- that a celibate cleric has no business pronouncing on married love. In brief, he's not buying it.

"He knows a lot about the human heart," Dobbins said, who also plays the part of Adam, the Christ-figure. "It's a bit like Chesterton in his creation of Fr. Brown. Everybody thinks that a priest is sheltered. But if you're listening to the deepest, darkest sins of everybody you know, I don't know how sheltered that is."

Other members of the cast agreed.

"There's a lot of heart in it," said Kris Kling, 24, who plays Andrew. Kling was raised a Presbyterian, and today attends an Episcopalian church. "The ideas are very strong. The trick is to get those ideas across while remaining dramatically interesting."

Kling acknowledged that staying interesting is a challenge with "The Jeweler's Shop," most of which is taken up by monologues, in stark contrast to the mile-a-minute pace of most modern entertainment. Yet, Kling said, it works.

"I went to a college where there were drama ministries, and a lot of those things fall flat because it's not good theatre," Kling said. "Often, a play that works well asks questions rather than gives answers. Through showing the reality of different relationships, this one ultimately asks, 'What is love?' "

"There are some really wonderful nuggets that touch anybody, not just people who are religious," said Elizabeth Wirth, 25, who plays Teresa. "I suppose most people who come are here because the pope wrote it, or because they're Catholic. But even for those who aren't, there's a lot of deep material. It's about love, it's about human connection, which I think everyone is struggling with."

Wirth, a Catholic, first encountered "The Jeweler's Shop" at the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, where she attended a reading by an English-speaking group. She laughed that "divine intervention" led her to this part.

Both Kling and Wirth said "The Jeweler's Shop" has resonance in their personal lives, since both find themselves struggling with relationships. "It's been a way to face that, and to let it out a little bit," Kling said.

Whatever the merits of Wojtyla's work, celebrating the pope near Times Square, perhaps America's leading citadel to secularism, can still seem a bit incongruous. I asked Dobbins how he reconciles his Catholic missionary zeal with the essentially a-religious, socially liberal milieu of the theatre.

"Can it be a hostile environment sometimes? Sure," he said. "I'm all for a plurality of ideas. Everybody talks about that, but they don't seem to really want it. The entertainment industry actually seems terrified of it."

In the end, Dobbins said, the Storm Theatre is about injecting the faith into the cultural bloodstream.

"As a guy who rejoined the church in his 20s, I feel strongly that it's not enough to say Mass on Sundays, if those thoughts and ideas are not represented in the culture," he said.

"The reality is that we are going to act pretty much the way our culture teaches us to act. It's going to take lots and lots of people doing stuff like this, just so you're not being crushed by an opposite way of thinking, without any alternative."

"These ideas are eternal, they're the truth," he said. "They need to compete with the other ideas on all the other blocks around here. Not only do I think these ideas are just as good, I think they're better."

The Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival runs through June 17. Information can be found on Web at www.stormtheatre.com


Years after Pope John Paul II visits N.Y.,
his plays do likewise
By Harry Forbes
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Playwrights Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter needn't worry about their names being usurped in posterity's annals by Karol Wojtyla, the archbishop of Krakow, Poland, who became Pope John Paul II. But there is much to admire in the late pope's drama, "The Jeweler's Shop," currently on view in New York, courtesy of the Storm Theatre, the first in an ambitious and praiseworthy series of all his major works.

The 1960 play is probably the best-known title (if any can truly be considered well-known) of the former actor's theatrical work. There was a movie with Burt Lancaster and Olivia Hussey in 1988.

On stage, in Boleslaw Taborski's translation of the original Polish, the definition of "play" is stretched to the limit. The playwright himself slyly subtitled it "A Meditation on the Sacrament of Matrimony, Passing on Occasion Into a Drama" when it was first published, as if to acknowledge the lack of dramatic incident. Still, it's a fascinating piece.

In the first of three acts, Andrew (Kristopher Kling) proposes to Teresa (Elizabeth Wirth), and they stand transfixed before the titular shop window (the unseen jeweler being a God figure), ruminating on their union and future as exemplified by the rings. In the second, unhappy wife Anna (Karen Eke) bemoans the sorry state of her marriage to the distant Stefan (Anthony Russo) and concerned Adam (Peter Dobbins) counsels the unhappy woman who might be contemplating infidelity. And finally the son of the first couple, Christopher (Chris Keveny), and Monica (Lara Theodos), the daughter of the second, proclaim their love, despite the latter's dysfunctional childhood and the former's insecurities about growing up without a father, who was killed in the war. The play ends on a conciliatory note for Anna and Stefan.

The problem is that there's very little interaction among the characters. Perhaps this was the style of the Rhapsodic Theater, of which the young dramatist was a founder. Nearly all the dialogue is in the form of inner monologue. The second act is particularly obtuse, with allegorical allusions to the wise and foolish virgins, and Anna waiting for a "bridegroom" who ultimately appears bearing the dreaded face of Stefan.

In any case, the author seems most concerned with setting forth his ideas on the nature of love and marriage, and the role of ego as a hindrance to true love, insights later expanded in his theology of the body.

Wirth is outstanding among a cast that succeeds to a remarkable degree in speaking the impossibly poetic dialogue with naturalistic cadences, but she plays with particular sincerity. So, too, production elements are simple but first-rate, including Dobbins' and Robert W. McMaster's sensitive joint staging, Todd Ivins' workable set, Michael Abrams' atmospheric lighting, Jennifer Lustig's period costumes (spanning the 1930s through the '60s), and sound designer Scott O'Brien's occasional background music.

Next up is the 1949 play, "Our God's Brother" (June 1-17) about Albertine Brother Adam Chmielowski (aka Brother Albert), a freedom fighter and painter canonized in 1989. In the fall, there are promised readings of "Jeremiah," "Job," "Reflections on Fatherhood" and "Radiation of Fatherhood."

This worthy festival demonstrates that even after his early acting days Pope John Paul remained a true man of the theater. Despite talkiness, the work's insights into humanity ring unerringly true. And though technically off-Broadway, the Times Square locale puts the late pontiff practically on the Great White Way, an extraordinary circumstance that would no doubt please him.

The Storm Theatre is located at 145 W. 46th St. Tickets are available by phone at (212) 868-4444, or online at www.smarttix.com.

- - -

Forbes is director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.