Faithful gather for first anniversary of John Paul’s death

VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II was remembered on the first anniversary of his death Sunday as an advocate for the poor who helped fell communism, with Catholics from Mexico City to his native Poland praising his legacy and calling for his beatification.

Pope Benedict XVI recalled his predecessor’s final days of suffering before an evening vigil that was expected to draw at least 100,000 people to St. Peter’s Square.

“John Paul II died as he always lived, animated by the indomitable courage of faith, abandoning himself to God and entrusting himself to holy Mary,” Benedict said in his weekly Sunday noontime address.

Polish Roman Catholics filled churches Sunday and voiced hopes for a quick beatification of their beloved native son.

In Krakow, thousands gathered with candles and flowers at the Archbishop’s Palace to await the exact time of John Paul’s death – 9:37 p.m. – when Benedict’s prayers will be broadcast live.

The mood was solemn but more hopeful than a year ago, when people fell to their knees and wept openly at news of John Paul’s death.

“We were depressed then, but today we rejoice in his sainthood even though it has not been officially announced,” said Krystyna Samborska, 32, a nurse from Krakow.

Thousands of believers flocked to John Paul’s hometown of nearby Wadowice, where an open-air Mass in the town at noon drew an estimated 8,000 people.

“We came to pray for his quick beatification and also to pray to him to protect our family,” said Wojciech Gladysz, 33, a gardener who traveled 220 miles from Warsaw with his wife and three children.

Tens of thousands of Roman Catholics filled Mexico City’s Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the most important Catholic shrine in the Americas.

Many of the faithful used mirrors to reflect the morning sun to the heavens as a way of sending the late pope their love. Others carried framed photographs covered in ribbons. One group held a banner reading “Juan Pablo II, God’s athlete.”

John Paul visited Mexico five times and was received by wildly enthusiastic crowds on each occasion. He called the country “Mexico, ever faithful.”

Ofelia Garcia Gonzalez said she will never forget seeing the pope.

“For me, he is almost God,” she said, holding a mirror and a picture of John Paul as she stood outside the basilica and a chorus of bells rang out.

At a morning Mass in Lagiewniki, Poland, near Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s longtime personal secretary, delivered a homily dedicated to John Paul’s swift beatification and sainthood.

“He contributed to the fundamental transformation of the world,” said Dziwisz, now the archbishop of Krakow.

Poles credit John Paul with inspiring the pro-democracy Solidarity movement in the 1980s, which sparked protests that helped bring down the communist regime in 1989.

In India, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, and Sister Nirmala, the successor of Mother Teresa, joined thousands of Indians who paid tribute to John Paul, describing him as an embodiment of peace.

“His travel to nearly 130 countries was to express solidarity with the poor and marginalized in the most inclusive way possible,” McCarrick said.

At the Vatican, Benedict reminded the crowd how John Paul could not speak when he tried to deliver his Easter blessing at the end of his life, managing only to bless the crowd weakly with his hand.

“It was the most pained and moving blessing, which left us with the utmost evidence of his will to complete his ministry until the end,” Benedict said, to applause.

During the noontime prayer, Benedict said John Paul would be remembered for one of his first messages, delivered in St. Peter’s on Oct. 22, 1978, days after he was elected pope.

“Open, indeed, throw open wide the doors to Christ!” John Paul told the faithful.

Benedict said that appeal had embodied John Paul’s 26-year pontificate.

“In the final years, the Lord gradually stripped him of everything,” Benedict said. “And when he could no longer travel, and then could no longer walk, and finally could no longer speak, his announcement was reduced to the essential: the gift of himself until the very end.”

He said John Paul had left a profound mark on the history of the church and all of humanity, ushering the church into the third millennium, visiting the world and meeting with heads of state, young people, believers and non-believers alike.

In recent days, pilgrims have been lining up to visit John Paul’s grave in a grotto underneath the basilica to pray and leave notes and flowers.

Souvenir shops around the Vatican, which over the past year have given equal space to Benedict and John Paul, by Sunday had reverted to the time of John Paul’s pontificate, with storefronts filled exclusively with John Paul key chains, calendars and snow globes.

On Monday, Benedict was to celebrate a Mass in the square attended by Dziwisz. The Vatican’s final anniversary event, dedicated to young people, was scheduled for Thursday afternoon in St. Peter’s Square.