Pope John Paul II, friend of the Curé of Ars
Pope John Paul II, friend of the Curé of Ars? Certainly ! In his priestly life and then during his pontificate, the person of the holy Curé left his mark on the Pope and some of his initiatives.
Born in May 1920 in Wadowice, he was ordained priest in 1946. Bishop in 1958, he became archbishop of Krakow in 1964, then pope on October 18, 1978.
Since the seminar
During his studies, he had the opportunity to visit Ars: “On returning from Belgium to Rome, I had the chance to stop off in Ars. It was late October 1947, Christ the King Sunday. With great emotion, I visited the old little church where Saint Jean-Marie Vianney confessed, taught catechism and gave his homilies. It was an unforgettable experience for me.
From my seminary years, I had been struck by the figure of the Curé d’Ars”; — This meeting with the figure of the Curé of Ars convinced me that the priest accomplishes an essential part of his mission in the confessional, by volunteering to “make himself a prisoner of the confessional”
[in “My vocation, Gift and Mystery”].
The Curé of Ars himself would have been frightened if he had known that one day, the successor of Peter would come to his parish, and bring together the priests of France to make him an example… This is what happened. passed in 1986! John Paul II then remarked:
— Personally, I am touched by his message. I am still very touched. And that’s why I come here, on pilgrimage, to kneel before these wonders of God…
He underlined: “So, Christ stopped here, in Ars, at the time when Jean-Marie Vianney was parish priest there. Yes, he stopped. He saw “the crowds” of men and women of the last century who “were tired and discouraged”, like “sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). Christ stopped here as the Good Shepherd.”
In the person of the Curé of Ars, the Lord Jesus “passed” and acted. He spoke to men, gave himself to them, welcomed them and immersed himself in his mercy. As priest, the Curé of Ars acted in the name of Christ in the sacraments, the Word proclaimed, charity spread. The same remarks could be made for John Paul II… The mystery of the presence of God is also manifested in the life and testimony of his friends, of those who allow themselves to be sanctified and who do his will.
The holy priest remains a model
Also when John Paul II specifies that the holy Curé remains for all countries an unparalleled model “both of the accomplishment of the ministry and of the holiness of the minister”, this is indeed what he means; in these two dimensions – as pastor and as saint – he is exemplary!
Mr. Vianney noted: “where the saints pass, God passes with them! “. Here too, he would have been very surprised to see that his sentence applied to him and to the Pope who came to his house!
Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005 in Rome after 26 years of pontificate.
He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on May 1, 2011, then canonized by Pope Francis on April 27, 2014, during the Divine Mercy Sunday Mass.
Extract from the Annales d’Ars n° 332[mai-juin 2011] .
