His Holiness Pope John Paul II witnessed the love of the Maltese people. He appreciated the faith and enthusiasm they had shown him during his visits, Archbishop Joseph Mercieca said yesterday in his homily during a service in memory of the Pope at St John’s Co Cathedral in Valletta.
Mass was yesterday held at 6.30pm and was said by the Archbishop together with the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Felix del Blanco Prieto. “During my meetings with him, Pope John Paul II always used to remind me of his visits to Malta. He appreciated the faith and enthusiasm he saw in us both in Malta and in Gozo. He felt and saw with his own eyes how much we loved him. On his part the Pope showed us with courageous gestures how much he loved us and our country,” Mgr Mercieca said.
The Pope’s may have died, however his request for the Maltese to remain a noble fortress of the Catholic faith remains, he said. “We have to keep in mind that call he (the Pope) made when he was in Malta in 1990 and said that in our times, when Europe is preparing itself for a new historical era…an era filled with hope and challenges, Malta is called to do its part towards the spiritual unification of the old continent through its treasures of faith and values.
“As the Pope himself said in the same occasion,” Mgr Mercieca continued, “Malta has awed the world on more than one occasion with its uncompromising defence of the Catholic faith, always ready to withstand heroic sacrifices to safeguard its culture which the Catholic faith established and reinforced.”
Archbishop del Blanco Prieto referred to the Pope’s passion for young people in his homily and mentioned recent instances which have this element as their common denominator. He spoke about an open letter the Pope addressed to the priests on Maundy Thursday, in which he wrote “that the priest is one who, notwithstanding the passage of time, continues to irradiate youth, almost infecting the people he meets on his path. His secret is in the passion he has for Christ. Saint Paul used to say ‘for me living is Christ’.”
When he was about to close his eyes on this earthly stage, Mgr del Blanco Prieto continued, the Pope in a feeble and broken voice drew on the little strength he had left to whisper his last message directed at young people. Probably, it was said, the Pope had in mind all the young people he met throughout his pontificate, when in a series of words which were reconstructed into a sentence, he said, “I have looked for you. Now you are here and I thank you”.