Can We Refer to Pope St. John Paul II ‘the Great’?

National Catholic Register, 18 May 2020

In his letter to the Polish bishops for the centennial of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI makes the case for ‘the Great’ as a recognition of the late Holy Father’s impact on history.

“St. John Paul the Great.”

The case is now sufficiently made — by Pope Francis and by his predecessor — that those who wish can use that title with confidence. Over time, it will likely be adopted in the Church’s official documents.

In his letter to the Polish bishops for the centennial of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI makes the case for “the Great” as a recognition of the late Holy Father’s impact on history.

Benedict also argues that John Paul not only changed the world but “restored” the Church at a time when her very existence was questioned. The letter also clarifies how the immensely popular feast of Divine Mercy took its present form.

 John Paul the Great

In his letter, Benedict XVI takes up the question of whether John Paul should be called “the Great.”

The idea of John Paul being a figure of rare historical impact — a “great” — was already abroad while he was still alive. In 1996, while a student at the University of Cambridge, I attended a lecture given by the recently retired president of Poland, Lech Wał sa on this date, May 18. I was able to meet him afterward at a reception, and, given that it was John Paul’s 76th birthday, I asked him what he thought about the Holy Father’s role in the liberation of Poland and the defeat of Soviet communism.

“I don’t think about it all,” Wałęsa replied, taking me aback. The translator soon added the explanation: “Because the Holy Father is like the sun. I don’t think about the sun, but without the sun, life would not be possible.”

In the light of that extravagant praise for his fellow Polish patriot, even “the Great” may seem too modest.

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