News Release: On the Death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II...

(LANSING)—Michigan Catholic Conference president and chief executive officer Sister Monica Kostielney, R.S.M., made the following statement today regarding the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II:

“As the universal Church and people of good will are saddened by the death of Pope John Paul II, we pause to reflect upon the life of the deeply spiritual Vicar of Christ.

Experiencing the confines of totalitarianism that led to a profound respect for freedom, the Holy Father carried his message of dignity for the human person across borders, cultures and religions in an effort to promote international peace and understanding. Traversing the world in the name of Jesus Christ, strengthened by the Gospels and in the spirit of the Beatitudes, Pope John Paul II embodied art, science, religion and philosophy in a life of personal magnetism and holiness.

Writing in his journal during the Second Vatican Council, Yves Congar, O.P., aptly characterized the young archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, as ‘a prophetic power, amid calm, but in effect irresistible.’

The Holy Father’s dedication to prayer, to the Eucharist and to the Blessed Virgin Mary nurtured his strength to labor relentlessly for the peoples of the world. A voice of conscience, an athlete, scholar, and teacher, inclusive in all his life’s work, Pope John Paul II personified a humanism that was based on divine truth. Compassion and forgiveness were hallmarks of his life’s work for the Kingdom of God.

We join the whole Church in prayer for Karol Wojtyla as he embraces the God of Glory during this Easter season.”

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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