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The spirituality of St. Francis de Sales is a “Spirituality of the Heart,” relevant today as in the time of St. Francis de Sales himself - an all-embracing, Down-to-earth Spirituality for everyone.

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Editorial  Farewell Holy Father

Papa Benedict XVI  SFS Fr. General

Chennai Region Southern Africa

Chad  Philippines  Florimont

Les Equipes, Notre-Dame  Kenya

Divya Tejas  JVS Sr. Emmanuelle

Bashbari  War Jaintias

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Witnessing  Wellspring

Stay with us, O Lord

Jubilarians  New Priests

   

   

  

Vol. 8  2005

 

Fransalian International

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell Holy Father, John Paul II: You did it

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

The Catholic Church will always be immensely grateful to you for the lessons that you taught, by word and example. But so will the world. You touched lives far beyond the formal boundaries of the Church. You helped change the course of twentieth-century history by your pivotal role in the collapse of communism. By demonstrating that profound religious conviction can lead men and women into genuine dialogue, based on mutual respect for every human being’s quest for the truth, you have shown humanity how to deal with some of the gravest dangers that threaten the 21st century. You did not do it as a politician, playing by the usual rules of the power game. You did not do it as a diplomat, although you performed some deft diplomacy to ensure Solidarity’s survival. You did it as a universal pastor: through your preaching, your writings, your quiet encouragement of the anti-communist opposition, your counselling the Solidarity’s leadership. You did it as a bishop convinced that one of your responsibilities was to defend the rights of your people. In doing so, you demonstrated that the human spirit can still move history in a positive direction. You did it through your “missionary” journeys.

  

 

You made more than one hundred pilgrimages outside Italy and travelled hundreds of thousands of kilometres, drawing some of the largest crowds in human history. You did it by exerting a powerful influence over the young, whom many religious leaders had long ago written off as hopelessly secular. You attracted the young, not by pandering to them, but by challenging them with the demands of the Gospel values. You did it with extraordinary courage. It is your courage and conviction that made you forgive your would-be-assassin and visit him in jail and bless him. Against the advice of many senior Cardinals, you went ahead and publicly apologized for the sins of the Church. A leader who took several initiatives for inter-religious dialogue, you visited the Wailing Wall and the holocaust memorial, Yed Vashim, in Jerusalem, the Synagogue in Rome, the Chief Mosque in Syria, the headquarters of the World Council of Churches and the Buddisht Patriarch in Thailand. You invited the leaders of all major religions for prayer meetings at Assisi. When you visited India, you, who walked with difficulty using a walking stick, knelt down at Raj Ghat, the tomb of Mahatman Gandhi. Perhaps, one of the most significant contributions of yours to dialogue is your defence of philosophy in general and specifically of the metaphysical traditions of India and elsewhere, articulated in the great encyclical letters Veritatis Splendor and Fides et ratio. You also did it by challenging the Catholic community the world over to make holiness and prayer central to all activities. You yourself practised it. Despite you busy schedule around the world, you spent long hours in prayer.

 

Dear John Paul II, farewell to you.

May you rest in peace! 

 

               

Fransalian International,  Vol. 8, No.1, (2005)

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Updated on Tuesday, April 04, 2006 15:35:54

 

 

 

   

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