“We came, we saw and we cried.” The members of the Vincentian Family came to Rome to see, to pray and to cry for the loss of one of the most loved person in the world: Pope John Paul II.
Before his burial on April 8 at 10:00 a.m. which was attended by hundreds of dignitaries from around the world and hundreds of thousands of his loving friends, especially the youth, many of the members of the Vincentian Family tried to pay him their last respects.
As there were so many thousands of persons trying to get to pay their respects to the Holy Father, the majority had to wait in long queues for six to twelve hours. It may seem an impossible experience to stand in a line for 12 hours together with tens of thousands of other people just to see a dead person. But it so happened that this person was Pope John Paul II a person dear to the hearts of many members of the Vincentian Family. He was one of us:
-He canonized and beatified several members of the Vincentian Family
-He made one Vincentian Cardinal and 31 bishops
-He knew and appreciated many of our confreres while he was Archbishop of Krakow.
-He came to visit our General Curia while he was still a cardinal
-He has approved many of our documents and gave us beautiful messages, the latest having been on the occasion of the General Assembly of 2004.
-He approved several important statutes of our organizations
-He was suffused with St. Vincent’s love for the poor and the oppressed.
So, while Julius Caesar came, saw and conquered with the sword, we the members of the Vincentian Family came, saw, cried and prayed to the man of peace, our beloved John Paul II, who conquered the world not with the sword but with the message of God’s love. May he rest in peace.
Fr.Rolando S.DelaGoza, CM
Fr. DelaGoza has served as the Internation Archivist of the COngregation of the Mission in Rome.
