Blessed Pope John Paul II

The new blessed Pope John Paul II is well known to the Faith and Light Community since this world- well- known community for intellectually handicapped people, their families and friends had an audience with Pope John Paul II in 2002 at Castle Gandolpho.
After that I wrote the following story:

In the Weakness of the Pope God shows his strength

What do you expect going to Rome? Is it the ancient city with a long history of Roman culture? Is it the triumphant display of the Vatican palaces or the grandeur of Saint Peter?
Or do you want to meet the Pope? Speak to him? Hear him? To be close to the leader of the Catholic Church? Yes, that’s what we expected. We were the delegates of the International Gathering of the Faith and Light communities around the world. We represented people with an intellectual handicap with their families and friends.

We were in the Mondo Migliore conference centre near Castle Gandolpho where the Pope John Paul II was residing at that time of the year. According Jean Vanier, the founder of Faith and Light, in his speech to the pope, we were little people who had suffered and who sought ways to respond to the suffering of humanity.

We presented all the Faith and Light communities, nearly 1500 in 75 countries, from different Christian denominations. We were bonded together because the same suffering which draws human hearts together also becomes a source of unity.

Sitting in the bus next to the international coordinator we discussed what to say to the pope and how to shake hands, kneeling, kissing his feet or ring? I had in mind suggesting him to let go of his difficult task because of his illness. But when we arrived at the courtyard and sat down under the canopy waiting with anticipation for the private audience with Pope John Paul II I was overcome by the simplicity of the surroundings and the presence of the suffering Christ in the little friends we represented. After some quiet singing we saw the pope entering the courtyard, bent over and shuffling to his chair. Here was a broken man, handicapped and disabled like the ones we work with in Faith and Light, in other words, one of us. I changed my mind, my perception. Here was the pope belonging to Faith and Light, our representative, because of his illness. He is our icon showing us to be faithful to the little ones of Jesus. There he was, his face unchanged, deprived of the ability to smile or cry, but behind the mask the love for all his friends in front of him on the courtyard of his house.

This new perception of the Pope moved me to the core of my being. Thank God for having a pope in the midst of Faith and Light, a “little one”, but a great light in the world, a symbol of brokenness, not giving up, not put away like so many handicap people. In the weakness of the pope God continues to show his strength, and so darkness becomes light. The fragility and suffering of the pope becomes a sign of hope for the disabled people in society. It proved to me that Jesus has a preference to the poor.


Let me quote some of the Pope’s speech.
“Your movement has received a great deal from the grace of this special place, where the sick and handicapped are given the first place. By welcoming all these “little ones” with mental handicap, you have seen in them special witnesses of God’s tenderness, from whom we have a lot to learn and have specific place in the Church. In fact, their participation in the ecclesial community paves the way for simple and close relationship, and their faith and spontaneous prayer invites each one of us to turn towards our Heavenly Father.”

After his speech the pope embraced Jean Vanier and reached out his hands to the ones of a handicap man who smiled with excitement and joy. Indeed the pope was a special witness of God’s tenderness.
In the bus home and with gratitude in our hearts we were all sharing a grace-filled time of our Rome-ward bound journey.

This is my story. Enjoy

May this Pope pray for us.
God Bless You

Fr John Heijnen , 2 May 2011