Do you miss him yet?

9 Comments

1. Geoffrey says:

   17 October 2025 at 1:35 PM

   Every. Single. Day.

   Sancte Ioannes Paule Magne, ora pro nobis, intercede pro Ecclesia!
2. Avey Rose says:

   17 October 2025 at 2:19 PM

   I’m so conflicted by JPII. I want to simultaneously kiss his ring and hug him, but also to weep at what he did at Assisi, et al. He was not perfect, but he loved our Eucharistic Lord. No one can deny that. I just wish he had been more Catholic. How he treated the TLM was shameful. But I smile when I see his photo. Conundrums galore.
3. Benedict Joseph says:

   17 October 2025 at 3:45 PM

   If I achieve eternal beatitude it will be in no small part do to Pope Saint John Paul. That said, we need remember he was a man of his time — indeed, of the mid-century council, for better, for worse. He did too much travel — but did we not all benefit from his global evangelism? He could not do two things at once anymore than any of us. A more compulsive immersion in the Vatican conundrum and in the selection of bishops would have served us well today. We live today with the results of some very bad choices — particularly 2013-2025. But this is a fallen world…our best intentions do not always bear the result we intend.
   I can’t help but think in hindsight that he was more an optimist than a realist. And of course, the diminishment of age did not support his best intentions.
   We need pray for a radical correction in the course of the Church through his intersession. He is attentive to us, I have no doubt.
4. Woody says:

   17 October 2025 at 5:02 PM

   I was fortunate enough to have kissed his hand (missed the ring) in January 2005, after some years of hesitation about him. Now I pray to him every day.
5. BeatifyStickler says:

   18 October 2025 at 1:41 PM

   I’m forever indebted to John-Paul 2. I am an indult kid and grew up with the Latin Mass attending since the late 80’s. Recently we had a Mass said at the Toronto Oratory in Thanksgiving of the commission of John-Paul and its members. We had the Mass said after the last member of the commission had passed away, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. We prayed in Thanksgiving for divine providence and the souls of all the remaining members, Ratzinger, Gantin, Mayer, Stickler, Casaroli, Baum, Innocenti, Gagnon-who ordained my uncle, and Stickler who gave me my first holy communion, Wojtyla, the successor to Peter.

   July 28th 2002, my siblings and I went to see John-Paul celebrate Mass in Toronto. Unbeknownst to me, my future wife was at the same Mass. We were in proximity to each other in relation to the successor of Peter, Karol Wojtyla. 10 years to the day, July 28th, 2012, I married my wife in the Tradional Mass at the Toronto Oratory.

   I am grateful for the person of Karol Wojtyla and I miss his clarity in regards to morality and ethics. In 1966 Wojtyla wrote extensively on the immorality of Contraception. He was a great defender of Humanae Vitae and defended the Church’s magisterium in this regard,

   For all this, I am forever grateful and indebted to Karol Wojtyla, John-Paul 2.
6. JustaSinner says:

   18 October 2025 at 4:46 PM

   Yet? Haven’t stopped since he died…one dud and two stinkers later I’m still do daily penance to our Immaculate Heart for how unworthy we’ve become…
7. hwriggles4 says:

   19 October 2025 at 1:22 PM

   I was one of thousands who ushered for him in 1987 when he visited San Antonio. I was a young college student and volunteers were asked from our college. I saved my sash and hat all these years.

   The place where the Mass was held was packed, and I believe that area is now a subdivision. It wasn’t far from Sea World. I remember Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Flores (dubbed the Mariachi Bishop) driving around in the Pope mobile.
8. JesusFreak84 says:

   19 October 2025 at 10:57 PM

   Assisi, and how many prelates directly responsible for the abuse crisis were promoted by him? McCarrick certainly should be considered part of Pope John Paul II’s legacy, because without JPII, that man was a creepy, crooked Franciscan priest. JPII also elevated a Bishop, and later made him a Cardinal, by the name of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who as Pope elevated Cupich, left parting gifts to Detroit, Knoxville, and Charlotte, bestowed upon us our current iceberg-blessing open-boarders Pope, etc. I also find JPII’s interpretation of the Third Secret of Fatima to be outright narcissism. When JPII is as distantly in the past as Pius IX, history will be harsh towards him and I suspect that, outside of Poland, the liturgical commemoration will be quietly removed, much like the treatment St. Christopher received.

   So, TL;DR, no, not at all. Benedict is likely to be the only Pope in my lifetime that I will (and do) miss afterwards.
9. Chiara says:

   20 October 2025 at 9:33 AM

   Although I love, admire, and respect our good Pope Leo, yes, I do miss St. John Paul.

   My pastor, who has been with us for the last 7 years, is 41 years old and was Ordained in 2011 (yes, he was only 34 when he took over the care of two poor, inner-city parishes). Without fail, he describes himself as a product of the papacy of Pope John Paul. Our parishes are Novus Ordo, and our sister parish has one TLM every Sunday, which is celebrated by a local priest with the approval of the Diocese – there is great mutual respect between the Novus Ordo and the TLM parishioners, which is encouraged by Father. Like Pope John Paul, he is joyfully faithful. I believe he would die rather than misrepresent or disrespect the teaching of the Church.

   A seminarian of our sister parish was born in 2005. Like my pastor, he, too, is joyfully faithful. His backstory is that his mother was dangerously ill at the end of her pregnancy (the 4th of 6). She and her unborn baby were near death the last month of her pregnancy, and she was hospitalized for that month. One night, in her darkened hospital room, she saw Pope John Paul walk into the room, who at that time was also suffering terribly and near death. He smiled at her and told her that she and her baby would survive and that everything would be all right, and not to worry. He said that as she grew stronger, he (John Paul) would grow weaker and die. To this day, Colleen doesn’t know if she was hallucinating or if this actually happened. The next morning, Colleen gave birth to her little boy, and Pope John Paul died. Colleen and Mike named their boy John Paul (of course). He was homeschooled until high school, when he attended the public school at which his father taught math. A month before graduation, his Civics class was assigned an essay in which they defended their view of a current issue. John Paul chose abortion and defended Catholic teaching. Before submitting it, his parents checked it for content, grammar and spelling, and all was well. When his teacher graded it, he received an F, with the comment that the teacher did not agree with his view. John Paul then refused to attend his graduation – with great conviction and happiness – and this incident sealed his decision to enter the seminary. He is now in his second year of theology, and all of us at his home parishes could not be prouder and more supportive.

   In his time, St. John Paul endured a *lot* of criticism from his own people, but with hindsight into his fine and faithful qualities, he is rightly a saint of the Church. I pray that we will say the same of Pope Leo someday – and I personally hope Pope Benedict is named a Doctor of the Church. Peace to you, Father, and to all here!

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