By the Way...Memories of Pope John Paul II

In 1978, along with millions of others I was astounded and excited by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla’s election as Pope John Paul II. As a science undergraduate, I was undecided as to my future career. The new Pope’s teaching and example stirred something deep within me as to where I might find fulfilment in life.

By 1982 – the time of the Papal visit to Britain – I was an unemployed science teacher who by now seemed more unsure of what to do with my life. Present at Heaton Park, Manchester, I heard Pope John Paul urge young people to be open to God’s call to the priesthood and religious life. However, I resisted this call,
powerful though it was.

In 1991 I could resist no longer and offered myself for training as a priest and was accepted. The climax for me prior to ordination was to be present at a Papal audience in St. Peter’s Square in Rome along with my brothers who were also training for the priesthood.

Once ordained a priest in 1997, I found myself quoting Pope John Paul in my sermons. It was with sorrow then that I and millions of others watched him battle bravely with his illness until, at his death in 2005, he gave his last poignant message to young people: “I sought you and now you have come to me ... I thank you”.

Thank you Pope Venerable John Paul for inspiring me in my youth and later years.

Fr Peter Burns
Parish Priest, Holy Family, Freckleton & Warton