Silver Jubilee of Pope John Paul’s visit to Mangalore to be celebrated on Feb. 6
Mangalore Today News Network
By I J Saldanha Shet
Mangalore, Feb 4, 2011: The announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he will beatify his predecessor, Pope John Paul II on May 1 this year in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, has doubled the joy for the Catholic community in Mangalore, who are preparing to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of John Paul II visit to the city (near Bajpe Air Port) on February 6,2011.
The Mangalore Diocese authorities are chalking out programmes to mark the occasion in a meaningful manner. The tentative programme available indicates:
A Special Holy Mass at 8.30 am on Sunday February 6,2011 at the same site that Pope John Paul II offered the Mass and addressed the city on February 6,1986.
All 10 parishes that come under Jurisdictional Pezar Varado(Bajpe,Gurpur, dyapadi,Permude,Thokur,Pezar,Mukka,Fermai, Katipalla and Surathkal) will be the organizing participants. Three processions will commence from different points and converge the spot for the Holy Mass)
According to news sources; The Diocese of Mangalore is on the same day also celebrating 125 yerars since formation The Bishop of Mangalore Rt.Rev.Dr.Aloysius P D’Souza stated that a BUST of POPE JOHN PAUL II will be erected at the spot in BAJPE to mark the Silver Jubilee of the only Pope who ever visited Mangalore.
THE SCENARIO OF 6.FEB,1986 - A RECAP:
Bajpe was chosen as the spot for the address as no ground in the city was fit enough to accommodate the gathering. According to estimates, the congregation was by far, the largest assembly ever in the undivided district of Dakshina Kannada crossing four lakh.
Msgr.A F D’Souza at the time VicarGeneral of the Diocese effectively served as Convener. Late Blasius D’Souza former Minister Karnataka was the organizing committee head. Late P Rodrigues former Minister Karnataka lead the Transport Committee. Joe Gonsalves co-ordinated with Law and Order and security matters. The late Rev.Fr.J J Saldanha ( who was last stationed at Milagres after retirement) was the Parish Priest then at Bajpe.
The Pope arrived by the special flight from Goa and was at Bajpe for two hours. Ushered in with a traditional aarti, the Pope was presented with a shawl prepared by the inmates of Fr Muller Charitable Institutions by late Blasius D’Souza, the representative of the state and the diocese. ’Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi he chanted as he stood on the podium and acknowledged the cheers ’Viva il papa. (Long live the Pope) The Pope delivered his message translated into Konkani and Kannada.
Businessman V U Seemon, who chauffeured the Pope from the airport to the venue, said it was the most momentous occasion of his life. "I was in the organizing committee. The Bishop offered me the job of chauffeuring the Pope. I cannot remember much what went on that day as I was on cloud nine," he added.
It is reported that Mr.H R Kasturirangan, the then Superintendent of Police (retired in 2000 as IGP) mentioned that in spite of the mamoth crowd there was order and discipline and the Holy Father gave him a Rosary. Several individuals have memorable insights to add on this visit the only one so far by a Pope to Mangalore.
Some of the dignitaries present on the occasion were the then Governor A N Banerjee, Congress leaders Janardhana Poojary, Oscar Fernandes, then Archbishop of Bangalore Rt.Rev. Pakiam Arokiaswamy, then Bishop of Mangalore Rev. Basil D’Souza, then mayor CK Bantwal among others.
His Holiness John Paul II - Short Biography
Karol Józef Wojtyła, known as John Paul II since his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His eldest brother Edmund, a doctor, died in 1932 and his father, a non-commissioned army officer died in 1941. A sister, Olga, had died before he was born.
He was baptized on June 20, 1920 in the parish church of Wadowice by Fr. Franciszek Zak, made his First Holy Communion at age 9 and was confirmed at 18. Upon graduation from Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in Krakow’s Jagiellonian University in 1938 and in a school for drama.
The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay chemical factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany.
In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyła was one of the pioneers of the "Rhapsodic Theatre," also clandestine.
After the Second World War, he continued his studies in the major seminary of Krakow, once it had re-opened, and in the faculty of theology of the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Sapieha in Krakow on November 1, 1946.
Shortly afterwards, Cardinal Sapieha sent him to Rome where he worked under the guidance of the French Dominican, Garrigou-Lagrange. He finished his doctorate in theology in 1948 with a thesis on the subject of faith in the works of St. John of the Cross (Doctrina de fide apud Sanctum Ioannem a Cruce). At that time, during his vacations, he exercised his pastoral ministry among the Polish immigrants of France, Belgium and Holland.
In 1948 he returned to Poland and was vicar of various parishes in Krakow as well as chaplain to university students. This period lasted until 1951 when he again took up his studies in philosophy and theology. In 1953 he defended a thesis on "evaluation of the possibility of founding a Catholic ethic on the ethical system of Max Scheler" at Lublin Catholic University. Later he became professor of moral theology and social ethics in the major seminary of Krakow and in the Faculty of Theology of Lublin.
On July 4, 1958, he was appointed titular bishop of Ombi and auxiliary of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, and was consecrated September 28, 1958, in Wawel Cathedral, Krakow, by Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak. On January 13, 1964, he was appointed archbishop of Krakow by Pope Paul VI, who made him a cardinal June 26, 1967. Besides taking part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965) where he made an important contribution to drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes, Cardinal Wojtyła participated in all the assemblies of the Synod of Bishops.
The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord’s Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city’s 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994. Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. He promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church.
He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church. His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters.
As a private Doctor he also published five books of his own: "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" (October 1994), "Gift and Mystery, on the fiftieth anniversary of my ordination as priest" (November 1996), "Roman Triptych" poetic meditations (March 2003), "Arise, Let us Be Going" (May 2004) and "Memory and Identity" (February 2005).
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April a.D. 2005, at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord’s Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church’s beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father.
From that evening until April 8, date of the funeral of the late Pontiff, more than three million pilgrims came to Rome to pay homage to the mortal remains of the Pope. Some of them queued up to 24 hours to enter St. Peter’s Basilica.
On April 28, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced that the normal five-year waiting period before beginning the cause of beatification and canonization would be waived for John Paul II. The cause was officially opened by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, on June 28 2005.
Reminiscences:
Businessman V U Seemon, who chauffeured the Pope from the airport to the venue in an open jeep, said it was the most memorable occasion of his life. While thanking the former Bishop of Mangalore Diocese Rt Rev Dr Basil Vas for giving an opportunity to chauffeur the Holy Father, he recalled how he dressed (in white safari and traditional turban) though the organisers wanted him to wear a suit. Showing a rostrum preserved at his home, he said that it was the most precious thing in his possession, as it was used by the Pope on the podium when he addressed the oceanic crowd. “When the organisers wanted a rostrum to be used by the Pope, none could find one without cover. There was a need for a sleek rostrum without cover, so that Pope’s body is not covered with it. Hence, Seemon decided to fabricate a special rostrum and he has preserved it in his home with Holy Bible on it. Stating that he was on ‘Cloud 9’ on that day, he said he could never forget the devine smile on the face of the Pope. “I can’t explain the devine vibration I had when I was near the Pope,” he says and adds: “You have to experience it to know it.”
Wg.Cdr. Neville Sequeira, an IAF Pilot, who is a Mangalorean. He had the privilege to fly the Pope in a special IAF Helicopter on 6th Feb.1986 from Kochi to the venue of the beatification of now St. Alphonsa of Kerala. He still recalls with great admiration the saintliness of Pope John Paul II who blessed him and his family and gave him a Rosary.
COMPILED WITH INPUTS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. By I J Saldanha Shet