Stand-Still Moment: Poland Mourns the Death of its Greatest Son

By Simon Mol

We saw the flaming Hand of God descend on St. Peter’s Square to lead home His Son… who became Our Father; Suwe’lele (farewell)Pope John Paul II

Mourners stand outside a packed church in Warsaw to pay their respects to the Pope

Perhaps it is the best way to put it. How else to describe the egress of a man who rose from ashes to inflame inspirations and reconciliations across a world described by English novelist Marie Corellie as ‘The Sorrowful Star’?

To have survived the holocaust, worked to defeat Communism, humiliated the bullets and bombs of assassins in more than one occasion—could only mean one thing; Truth was on the side of John Paul II

On two historic occasions— Falkland Islands and Iraq, the Supreme Pontiff said NO to war. He had lived through war, and didn’t want others to suffer the same fate. How ‘Suffering’ can transform the human ego; it can either refine a victim so he becomes conscious of the plight of others—pushing him to understand and work to help them, or it can transform him into a vengeful, vindictive creature. In the case of the Pope, ‘Suffering’ became a miraculous instrument of peace, reconciliation and self-sacrifice. This is why many across the world find it difficult to accept the fact that ‘God has called Him Home’.

And in his native country Poland, Poles and those who live in this country, reality was accepted in several sequences; shock, disbelief, pain and serious cogitation.

Poland in Mourning
More than a hundred thousand people attended an open mass at the Pi³cudcki Square, close to the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’ Square in Warsaw to offer prayers for the Pope’s transition. Others took the road to Rome on a pilgrimage; by cars, flights and on foot. For those who couldn’t afford traveling to the St. Peter’s Square in Rome, the destination was the Pope’s home-parish of Krakow where he was ordained Bishop before becoming Pope.

For the Church in general and Poles in particular, things will never be the same again. In African terms, a ‘Great and irreplaceable Baobab tree has fallen’, a Baobab tree that sheltered the impoverished from far and near without discrimination.

At noon on Sunday, April 3, the siren sounded in Warsaw. It sounds usually only in times of great calamity, like during a war. It was a sign of honor to the greatest son Poland ever produced. Less than a year ago Czes³aw Mi³osz, Polish poet and Nobel Laureate in Literature passed away. He too was from Krakow. Death seems to be harvesting the very best of this land of great sons.

"He was the most important person in the Church, but when he came back here and met friends, he would say 'I'm Karol, I'm your equal'." A priest in Krakow summed up why Pope John Paul II, or Karol Wojtlya, continued to mean so much to the people of Poland.

One Swedish visitor said she had flown in to Krakow for a wedding on Saturday.

“The couple had decided to go ahead with the ceremony even though they knew the Pope was ill. The atmosphere immediately changed when news of his death was announced. The musicians left, we all stood up and prayed and it was a moment of sorrow and sadness. It was very emotional." She said. At midday, the enormous Zygmunt's bell at Wawel Cathedral, which announced news of the Pope's death, rang out again - 84 times, once for each year of his life.

With an initial dream of becoming an actor by career, little did Karol Wojtlya know then in his school-days that his dream of becoming an actor in a tiny theatre room was too parochial for the liking of God, who had better, greater plans for him. And yes God wanted him to live his dream of becoming an actor. But an Actor on a global stage with ‘reality plays’, based on the suffering of the downtrodden. His principal role as an Actor, according to the plans of God, was to play the real role of ‘Voice of the Voiceless’.   

Among his valiant achievements during his papacy and with several plays and poetry anthologies to his merit, the Polish-playwright-poet-Pope’s eternal journey indeed marks the very end of a millennium for the Church, for Poland and the entire human race.   

Glorious Egress 

Death Never was wicked…
It quickens weeks
to quicken the weak
to weaken the wicked…
It breaks the crutch—replacing with wings,
It stops breathe—spiral to spirit realms…
sending to rest… when Life’s burden becomes too heave for a weary Soul.
No!... Death never was wicked