Tom's memoir and tribute To
Pope John Paul II
1920 - 2005
Papal Reign
October 16, 1978 -
April 2, 2005
"I
come as a pilgrim of love, truth and hope."
From the pope's 1998 visit to Cuba
The world lost what
I would call its most recent greatest Apostle of Peace. Though I'm
not a Catholic, I revered Pope John Paul for his global vision and his tireless efforts to
bring the message of peace to all the people of the world. Though often criticized
for his inflexible stands on such issues as abortion, contraception, and the role of women
in the church, his legacy of pushing for peace is undeniable and immense. It will
live on.
Photo: Pope
John Paul greets clergy, pilgrims, and local people in St. Peter's Square after his weekly
audience -
Photo by and Copyright by Thomas Martin Smith. All rights reserved.
During my two-year
world journey around the world to promote international friendship and communication, I
was truly blessed when Pope John Paul shook my hand. When he did, I had a profound
"religious experience". Because of Pope John Paul, I continued on my
journey with deeper convictions for love, truth and hope - and the possiblities for world
peace.
Here is what I
wrote of the time in the book, IN THE LONG RUN: A
Hopeful World Odyssey...
Even more important to me than my visit to Rome
was an attempt to do something through The Vatican and, if possible, to at least see the
Holy Father. In this effort, I was helped tremendously by our staff at the embassy at the
Holy See. I would often make my way along the Via della Conciliazone, the wide
thoroughfare that led directly to St. Peter’s Square. It was constructed in 1937 to
commemorate the reconciliation between Mussolini and Pope Pius XI.
At the embassy, I was particularly happy to see
Emanuela Siciliani who made calls on my behalf and was my friendly, kind-spoken confidant
between my outings. She was slim and dark and very attractive with silken skin. She liked
scuba diving. Not that I assumed there was any interest on her part, but I never tried to
become part of her personal life – I was too shy and preoccupied to pursue this.
At just over 100 acres, Vatican City was by far
the world's smallest independent sovereign entity. It had its own flag and anthem. It
locked its gates at midnight. Though 4,000 people worked there, only 400 held Vatican City
passports. The Pope held Passport #1 – but had he ever been asked to produce it? I
once accompanied Mr. Evans of the embassy to the Vatican post office and watched as he
sent out a parcel that was tied up with string. There was no security or Customs slip; it
was simply stamped and sent.
Counselor Laurent Paul Tardif got me my
"Reparto Speciale" – a pass to a restricted seating area for the
Pontiff’s weekly audience.
I was in awe of Pope John Paul II, the former Polish
actor who had also worked in a quarry and a chemical factory, the man who was now shepherd
to the global flock of 800 million Catholics. The Papacy was the world’s only
elective monarchy and the Holy Father managed an incredible global bureaucracy that
included 4,000 bishops, 400,000 priests, and at least 1 million nuns. I was not Catholic,
but that did not matter. Neither did the fact that he was staunchly conservative in a
world that seemed to cry out for more flexibility and tolerance, even adaptation. I
regarded Pope John Paul not only as a man of God but as a man of peace.
(Having just written that, and feeling that
"God" could also represent the supreme deity of any religion, it seems that
"peace" and "God" are, in any case, inseparable. So why is the world
still fractured in some places by religious intolerance? God only knows. Is there some
secret to achieving world tolerance and peace that we have yet to discover?)
Photo: I took this photo of Pope John Paul using a
500mm lens.
Photo by and Copyright ã by Thomas Martin Smith. All rights
reserved.
I admired Pope Paul’s courage and tenacity
in spreading peace throughout the world, especially because he got out there personally
and did it so often.
There had to be something special about the man
who became the first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years. To me, he sat with
unparalleled grace on the much-occupied Papal throne. He had had 262 predecessors. Some of
them were interesting. The shortest reign was by Stephen II who died just 4 days after he
was elected in 752. At 32 years, Pius IX had sat on the throne the longest. When he rose
to it in 931, John XI was the youngest at 16 years of age. Gregory IX had died the oldest
in 1241 at the age of 100. And one of them may have been a woman, according to the
medieval legend of Pope Joan of 855 A.D. (Her story, about a woman disguised as a man,
rising to the top of the papacy, taken as fact, was made into a movie in 1972, Pope Joan.
It had a multi-star cast with Liv Ullman in the title role.)
At least 14 of the popes abdicated or were
deposed. Ten died violently. Popes had been arrested, imprisoned and otherwise humiliated.
Many had never ruled from Rome at all. 80 had been canonized. One, Formosus, was exhumed
by his successor Stephan VII (896 - 897), was tried on charges of usurping the throne, was
stripped, dismembered, and thrown into the Tiber (a Roman mob subsequently rose up and
strangled Stephan).
U.S. President Richard Nixon once said: "I
would have made a good Pope."
He would likely have made a controversial one.
(Dear reader: I will now go into detail about the
Audience, particularly for those of you who are Catholic and have not had the opportunity
to attend the Pope’s weekly address at St. Peter’s. I also do it because I, a
non-Catholic, underwent what might well have been "a religious experience".)
Being Pope was no easy task. To me, just the
responsibility of getting up in front of thousands of people that were assembled for his
weekly audience would have sent me into hiding.
I had my Reparto Speciale and
had taken a seat in a fenced area to the immediate right of the stage that had been
erected in St. Peter’s Square. I was early and had a terrific seat close to the
stage, immediately behind the dignitaries’ box.
A dark-haired mustachioed man signaled me to move
to the side of this boxed in area. I was annoyed because I was directly across from the
left side of the pontiff's throne. He was insistent, and I thought that I was perhaps in a
reserved seat. He placed me midway along the edge of this area.
Photo: I had taken a seat in the area cicrled in
yellow. I was told to move to the area in white circle. I took a seat next to
the fence. You can just see a tiny black arrow that points to me. Photo by
Arturo Mari, official Papal photographer.
"His Holiness will pass by you here,"
he said. This was the Papal photographer who was assigned to take my photograph with the
Pope in passing. I would soon discover that he knew what I was in for and that this was
the best place to be.
Beside me, the young musicians of the Saints
Allowicious College Musical Group from Glasgow, Scotland, were warming up. There was a
rising crescendo of horns and violins. I had no idea what they were playing but the piece
reminded me of Neil Diamond’s "Prologue", included in his Love at the Greek
album – you got the feeling of impending arrival of someone revered. I got out my
cassette recorder and set it on the rail of the fence. A man on the far side of the
orchestra saw what I was doing. He looked at me sternly and signaled "No" with
his hand. The wood frame barrier next to me was covered with fabric so I put the recorder
on the frame behind the fabric and continued recording.
Cheering suddenly replaced the music. The Pope
was making his way around the crowd in the bulletproof Mercedes Popemobile. You knew that
this was no ordinary man coming. In May 1981 as he rode through a crowd-packed St. Peter's
Square, the Pope was shot and severely wounded by Turkish-born terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca.
Three years later, the Pontiff visited him for 21 minutes in Rome's Rabibbia Prison, held
his hand and forgave him. Now the Holy Father was making his way to the platform. People
were clapping. Men's voices were raised in song.
A quotation was read first in Italian, then in
French and then in English – "A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the
Ephesians: 'Because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus… remembering you in
my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ…may give you a spirit of wisdom and
of revelation…that you may know what is the Pope to which He has called you."
It continued and was repeated in other languages.
The Pope read something in Italian and then in
French. I did not understand a word of it but joined the huge crowd in applause. Bells
sounded and then the Pope was told of the many delegations that had come to pay him
respect. (For ease of reading, I will put the following speech in point form)
"Among those present in the
audience today," came a man’s voice over loudspeakers,
- "participants in renewal programs in Rome, of
the Dominican Sisters;
- from England, the Acrossed Cross pilgrimage and
sect and the Spez pilgrimage from London
- from Scotland, the Ecumenical pilgrimage from the
Island of Berra, in the diocese of Argyle in the Isles, as well as the Saints Allowicious
College Musical Group from Glasgow (the music began – but it seemed low and
distant...);
- a group from Ireland including students and
professors from a college in Cork;
- Denmark students from a high school in Copenhagen;
- from Sweden a Lutheran church group;
- a symposium from Norway;
- infantry and calvary trainee officers from Malta;
- from the Philippines from the arch diocese of
Manila;
- from Japan a youth group from a Buddhist
organization on exchange on exchange from the European Christian Youth;
- from New Zealand, a pilgrimage of Maori (who then
went into song and chants);
- from the US, several pilgrim groups: Kalamazoo,
Michigan; Sacramento California; priests and sisters from San Francisco; Our Lady of Hope
sent a group from Newburgh; New York (I would have quite a night in their notorious town
near the end of my journey...); Lancaster, Ohio; Philadelphia; and
- members of the US Armed Forces and members of
their families stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany (to this someone a few seats in front of me
clapped and shouted "Yeah!").
(I apologize to any group(s) whose name I did
not get down accurately.)
The Pope then conveyed blessings on them. Near
me, I heard a security official's walkie-talkie. I put a 500mm lens on my camera, set my
tripod between my legs as a monopod and captured images of the Holy Father: the slight
grandfatherly smile, the understated Pontifical wave in blessing…
The Pope talked about a pilgrimage he had made to
France regarding the works of St. Francis.
"In a word, my visit was an inspiring
pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Saints," he said. "There is a need for labors
for priests and for Saints. Where the Saints pass, God passes together with them."
The Pope welcomed the various groups, the
students from Cork; the Maoris; the groups from Sweden, Denmark, and England; and he
welcomed the group from Japan in Japanese.
"May the Lord Bless all," he concluded.
"And you, Holy Father," the crowd
intoned.
The orchestra concluded with the same
introductory piece. The Pope then began to make his way around. And, yes, he was coming my
way! There was a rush and then the crush of people as they flowed like a wave over top of
me, standing on chairs, leaning over, bodies pressing upon each other, hands outstretched
trying to touch and to be touched by Pope John Paul. Rosaries dangled over my head and I
was hemmed in by the pressing what felt like the entire body of the Catholic Church. I
became heavily but happily aware of why I had been asked to sit here.
Then it happened. When the Holy Father stood in
front of me, all I saw around him was a brilliant glow – St. Peter's, behind him, had
disappeared. He took my right hand in his left. He shook my hand gently. His grip was firm
but his hand was soft. This recalled how my Grandmother Darby had held my hand just hours
before she died. As he passed, St. Peter’s became visible again. It was a profound
event. But I rationalized it as my own awe of the moment.
Photo: Pope John Paul shakes hands with
Thomas Martin Smith
Photo by Arturo Mari, official Papal photographer.
(Later, in at the Vatican studio of Arturo Mari,
an official Papal photographer, in room of long tables filled with glossy 8 x 10’s, I
was jostled by hopeful people. I spotted three in which I was shown with the Holy Father.
Arturo had captured the moment for me.)
After the audience ended and the crowd thinned, I
lingered around St. Peter’s, just soaking up the atmosphere. It was 3:30 p.m. by the
time I decided to leave. I walked down the Via Della Conciliazone to our embassy, hoping
to see Emanuela. I was too late. The embassy had closed at 2:00. I sat on the steps and
had begun to write a note for Mr. Tardiff, the Counselor, when he came by
See the following websites:
The Vatican - Official Website -
http://www.vatican.va
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/index.html
ABC News: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/Pope
