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Matthew Vella
Television stations yesterday beamed a continuous stream of updates and interviews as the head of the Roman Catholic Church lay in bed, his ailing health bringing him into his final passage, as tens of thousands flocked into the Vatican City in Rome to pray for the dying pontiff.
 Polish-born Karol Wojtyla’s twilight was the central focus of the world yesterday, since 1978 the spiritual shepherd of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics.
Television channels broke off their regular programming to set up impromptu discussions on the Pope’s life, both internationally and even in Malta. News channels streamed continuous live footage from St Peter’s Square, where up to the early hours of the morning, the lights across John Paul II’s corridors in St Peter’s Basilica remained lit.
In Malta, Archbishop Joseph Mercieca yesterday concelebrated a mass for the pontiff at six in the evening in St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. Prayers for the Pope continued after the mass.
Curia PRO Charles Buttigieg said that prayers during Mass today would be offered for the Pope.
He also said the Church “was moving slowly” before the official announcement of the death of John Paul II. “A circular will be issued to all chaplains upon official confirmation but no decision has been taken yet. Of course, I don’t exclude that special prayers will be held for John Paul II and during the choice of his successor.”
The Pope’s last stand also brought about the postponement of the celebrations for the feast of Saint Publius in Floriana, the Roman governor who converted over to Catholicism when St Paul brought the faith over to Malta back in 60 AD. The celebrations, which had to be held today, were postponed to Sunday 24 April.
Towards yesterday evening, local orders were also praying for the Pope’s health. Sister Carmelita Borg, the mother superior for the Dominican Order said adoration for his needs and a series of rosaries were being recited.
“The sick are offering their prayers for his needs, and everyone here is making a little sacrifice for the Pope. Those on night duty at our homes will also be praying if they have some time. Nobody is obliged but anyone who feels they should pray through the night can do so.”
Members of other faiths in Malta also offered their reflections on John Paul II. The president of the Jewish community, Abraham Chaim Ohayon,told MaltaToday that te Pope had been instrumental in bringing rapprochement between Jews and Catholics, saying Jews had a lot of respect for him. “He was the first Pope to apologise for the atrocities committed by the Church to the Jews, and he was courageous in this respect. He did a lot of good, and his travelling around the globe continued in his final years, his health notwithstanding.”
Ohayon also recounted an episode in the Pope’s life when he took under his custody the child of a Jewish family during World War II in his native Poland when it was occupied by the Nazis.
“Wojtyla generously sent this child to Israel after the war. This child was to become the chief rabbi of Israel. He met him many years after and told him who he was. I think that is a great story. Many were the priests during WWII who had Jewish children enter the priesthood in order to safeguard them from the Gestapo. The papacy is also important to us.”
Indeed, John Paul II became the first Pope to visit a synagogue and the first to visit the memorial at Auschwitz to victims of the Holocaust. In ending the Catholic-Jewish estrangement, he called Jews “our elder brothers”.
Mohammed El Sadi, the Imam of the Muslim community had words of great praise for the pontiff.
“His Holiness is of great importance not only for Christians but also for Muslims. He was a historical leader who worked hard for peace, freedom, mutual understanding and co-operation amongst all religions, and against corruption, diseases, injustice, and the violation of human rights.”
El Sadi also praised John Paul II’s effort towards developing dialogue between Islam and Christianity, and said Muslims remember the Pope for his support towards “just causes” and his cultivation of good relations between different faiths:
“He was against the occupation of Iraq and the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, and against the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council on Libya. He was the first Pope to visit a mosque and pray there, as he did in Damascus. And he was the first Pope to visit many Islamic countries like Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Morocco, where he addressed the Muslim youth in Casablance. The Muslim world appreciates the achievements of the Pope and his great efforts towards world peace. We pray to God the Almighty to grant him good health and longer age.”
One Italian commentator argued in the Italian daily La Stampa that there was a risk that the Pope’s suffering becomes a media circus. The Pope’s struggle to speak during his delivery of the blessing on Easter Sunday caused many to think whether it was prudent for the pontiff to have been exposed in such a weakened condition, although it is said it is always the Pope’s decision to ‘go public’.
On Friday morning, Mass was celebrated at 7.30 am in the presence of the Pope. Vatican press officer Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that on Friday evening, the Pope “probably had in mind” the young people he had met throughout the world during his pontificate, saying the pontiff had repeated several times the words: “I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.”
But by late evening, John Paul II’s condition had deteriorated further, his breathing having become shallow and his “biological parameters notably compromised.” John Paul II died at 9.37pm
matthew@newsworksltd.com
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