Pope John Paul II: The Pilgrim Pope
Fr. Roger Charest, SMM
Pope John Paul II . . .
Vatican II has described the Church as a “Pilgrim Church” and the people of God as pilgrims on their way to the heavenly homeland.
Pope John Paul II often refers to himself as a pilgrim Pope and the facts are there to prove that he is just that.
When visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock he said; “I am here as a pilgrim … Since I first learnt of the centenary of the Shrine …
I have felt a strong desire to come here; the desire to make yet another pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Mother of Christ, the Mother of the Church, the Queen of Peace. Do not be surprised at this desire of mine. It has been my custom to make pilgrimages to the Shrines of Our Lady, starting with my earliest youth and in my own country. I made such pilgrimages also as a Bishop and as a Cardinal.”
He then went on to explain the purpose of these pilgrimages by describing the nature of these Shrines. “I know very well that every people, every country, indeed every diocese, has its holy places in which the heart of the whole people of God beats, one could say, in a more lively fashion. Places of special encounter between God and human beings; places in which Christ dwells in a special way in our midst”. Since many of the shrines are dedicated to the Mother of God, the Holy Father went on to say; “If these places are so often dedicated to His mother, it reveals all the more fully to us the nature of his Church …”.
. . . The Pilgrim Pope
What the Holy Father is telling us is that the Church is a pilgrim Church “under the guidance of Christ” and under the patronage of Mary, “Mother of the heavenly and earthly Church.”
Lest we interpret his pilgrimage to the Shrine of Knock simply as a side-trip, he said: “… at this Shrine of Knock … I want to express the immense joy and gratitude that fills my heart today in this place. I would not have wanted it differently. Highlights of my recent pastoral journeys have been the visits to the shrines of Mary: to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, to the Black Madonna of Jasna Gora in my homeland, and three weeks ago to Our Lady of Loreto in Italy …”.
“I know very well that every people, every country, indeed every diocese, has its holy places in which the heart of the whole people of God beats, one could say, in a livelier fashion. Places of special encounter between God and human beings; places in which Christ dwells in a special way in our midst”. Since many of the shrines are dedicated to the Mother of God, the Holy Father went on to say; “If these places are so often dedicated to His mother, it reveals all the more fully to us the nature of his Church …”
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And since then, of course, we might add his pilgrimage to our own National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 7th this past [1979] year, when he entrusted our nation to the Mother of God.
It is in this spirit of a “pilgrim Church” that the Montfort Missionaries initiated the Shrine project, Our Lady of the Island, in Eastport, Long Island, N.Y. Now in its fifth year of development, this Marian Shrine is already attracting thousands of pilgrims, some of whom have undoubtedly come out of curiosity but have remained to pray.
As In All Marian Shrines, Christ is the Focal Point
As in all Marian Shrines, Christ in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Christ in the Eucharist is the focal point and goal of the weary pilgrim’s journey. But there is another presence at Marian Shrines and that is the loving presence of the Mother greeting her children, interceding for them, leading them to her divine Son.
To quote our Holy Father once again, this time during his pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii (Oct. 21, 1979): “Mary is always at the very center of our prayer. She is the first among those who ask. She is Omnipotentia Supplex. The Omnipotence of intercession. Mary brings the same depths of prayer also to the privileged place . . . to which we come on pilgrimage today. It is the sanctuary of the Rosary – that is, the sanctuary of Marian prayer; on this prayer that Mary says together with us, just as she prayed together with the Apostles in the Upper Room.”
Such is our pilgrim Pope’s idea of a Marian Shrine – a place “where Christ dwells in a special way in our midst,” a place “of special encounter between God and human beings,” where Mary prays with and for her children in need.
