SAU remembers Pope John Paul II

April 21, 2005
By Katie Voelliger
Staff Writer

On April 2, St. Ambrose University paused to reflect and pray as Pope John Paul II passed away. His 26-year papacy was moving -- he traveled to visit several other countries, took a stand on many issues, and was an advocate for the youth.

“One thing that Pope John Paul II was so skillful at was his ability to connect with crowds and make each person feel connected with him,” Rev. Chuck Adam, university chaplain said. “There is no question in my mind that Pope John Paul II will go down in history as a great man. One has to admire the role he played in the fall of communism, his commitment to moral values and consistent ethics of life, and what a courageous model he was for us...even to end of his life.”

Adam also said that there is no way to predict who the next pope will be. He hopes that the next pope will act further on some of the things Pope John Paul II started during the Jubilee year -- reaching out to other religions, seeking reconciliation with people who feel alienated from the church, and uniting the church.

A portrait of Pope John Paul II and a prayer book wer on display in Christ the King Chapel where members of the Ambrose community were invited to write any thoughts they had.

The chapel remained open until midnight during each of the nine days of mourning that follows the pope's death. Prayers were said at the daily masses all week long.  On April 6, the regular 9:00 p.m. mass was offered as a memorial mass.

“St. Ambrose students have a sense of wanting to be united with what is going on in their church and in the world around them,” Adam said. “I noticed a higher number of students at mass on the Sunday after the pope's death.  I think it's a way of checking in with one's church and wanting to be united with fellow Catholics in prayer for the pope.”

“I do notice that some members of the SAU community are respectful of and attune to what is going on,” Adam added. “We are witnessing something that we haven't seen for 26 years---the solemnity of a papal funeral,  the ancient process and sacred rituals surrounding the selection of a new pope. This is history in the making.”

According to Rev. Brian Miclot, Pope John Paul II earned his doctorate in philosophy and studied the philosophy of personalism, meaning the human person is of infinte value. He remembers Pope John Paul II speaking to crowds about the dignity of human people and the solidarity of all humans. Dignity was believed to be a God-given thing, which everyone had.

Miclot is teaching Catholic Perspectives this semester in which the class spent a week studying the pope’s writings.

“We went behind his thinking,” Miclot said. “Everyone knows how visual he was and some of the things he did, but in the class we went farther in detail,” Miclot said.

One of the major documents studied was the Fides et Ratio, which means Faith in Reason.

Miclot often refers to specific parts of it, such as “...it is necessary not to abandon the passion for ultimate truth, the eagerness to search for it or the audacity to forge new paths in the search. It is faith which stirs reason to move beyond all isolation and willingly to run risks so that it may attain whatever to run risks so that it may attain whatever is beautiful, good and true.”

“The pope’s writings retrieve the Catholic tradition, but can also open out new sources in truth. The pope finds grains of truth with Lutherans and Jewish people and writers,” said Miclot. “Pope John Paul II championed and loved the culture of life.”

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