Saints of our times

Yesterday was indeed a very momentous and historic day for the Catholic Church. This is the first time that two Popes, John XXIII and John Paul II, whose terms as Popes were just more than a month apart from each other, were jointly canonized as Saints. The canonization is more memorable because our new saints spent most of their exemplary lives during our own lifetimes. It is really quite a rare and remarkable experience to have vividly witnessed and sometimes even personally encountered them while they were still with us in this world. Usually we just read accounts of the heroic lives of the saints.

In fact in 1959, when Pope John XXIII was barely a year in office as Pope, my wife Josie who was then a member of a dance troupe touring Europe was fortunate enough to have an audience with him at the Vatican together with the other members. Her most unforgettable impression of Pope John XXIII was that he is a “jolly good” pope, always smiling, similar to the description given him by one of his scholars Bishop Battista Angelo Pansa who called him “a man of blessed and happy poverty having the art of encounter.”

On the other hand, our late daughter Joyce was also fortunate enough to have met Pope John Paul II twice when she was in Rome on two different occasions during the ‘90s: first when she passed by the Vatican as one of the delegates to the “Univ” Congress in Spain; and second when she was studying in Rome as a numerary of the Opus Dei. Her most unforgettable impression of Pope John Paul II was his great passion and care for young people and his love and concern for families.

I myself saw Pope John Paul II up close at the Luneta Park when he visited the Philippines twice during the canonization of St Lorenzo Ruiz in February 1981 and during the world youth day held here in January 1995. But my closest encounter with him was during the beatification of Blessed Jose Maria Escriva sometime in 2002 prior to his canonization in 2010. My most unforgettable impression of Pope John Paul II is that he was very approachable and could easily relate to people.

I have not personally seen Pope John XXIII but I also cannot forget him simply because he was the one who convened the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), the first Council since the Council of Jerusalem in the first century that “brought the Church up to date with the modern era.”

Perhaps for more authoritative and somewhat official perspectives on the two Pope-Saints, here is a summary of news briefs and interviews gathered from Zenit (ZE 140424) the internet connection of the “world as seen from Rome.”

On Pope John Paul II: 

Firstly, his anthropological vision – his vision of the human person. He had all the time in the world for you. It ran through his pontificate. It can be seen from his very first encyclical Redemptor Homines: Christ is the Way for Man. He saw every individual as important. He left a legacy on the dignity of the human person, the value of human life and the family, service to the poor and the needy, and the rights of workers.

His great example of suffering was the greatest badge of honor that he wore. He went forward, despite all difficulties just to be in the presence of a man. He really became an example to everyone bearing a cross. His photo leaning on that famous cross is almost as if he put all of his own suffering in the suffering of Christ… It was that divine strength that enabled him to go forward in all of his sufferings.

He has a prophetic vision as seen during World Youth Day. He called us to aim high, not to be afraid to throw open the doors to Christ, and certainly in his own visits to so many countries. It was his example. He gave us courage to go forward.

On Pope John XXIII: 

He was the good Pope. His journal of the soul on living a very simple life toward holiness is a jewel for seminarians and for every Christian.

He was a caretaker pope with great prophetic vision not by peering into the future but by reading the signs of the times today in order to be optimistic about them. He had a great optimism, but an optimism borne from realism. He called a council, and wanted the Church, Christ, the Gospel, to be relevant to people today. Even in calling the council, he was very aware that it wasn’t reaching a summit. It was a royal road to the Cross, climbing up Calvary. He knew that it would bring many difficulties, but it was necessary to pass that Cross to open the Church and open the human person to a new future.

He also loved people as shown by his helping Jews in Turkey. Even in very simple ways he would reach out to people like a pastor and a father.

He never forgot where he came from. He really had a lot of suffering in his life. He came from a peasant family, where it was difficult to put bread on the table.

According to Monsignor Figueiredo, the Director of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education, the common characteristics of both Popes is their “prophetic vision for the future, their love for others and their willingness to embrace the cross.” Their joint canonization is significant because “many of us knew these two saints, they were “saints for our times.” And in giving us these “two good and courageous priests, Pope Francis is really “building on his predecessor, Pope Benedict’s wish that these men become saints because “every saint is an intercessor and a model for the church.”

In canonizing them together, the Holy Father Pope Francis also wants us to be courageous, and optimistic, about where the Lord is taking the Church. This is a new Springtime for the Church,   a new Pentecost. And many, many graces will come through the intercession of these two saints.

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