Asturian-American Migration Forum

I would like to take this opportunity to ask all to pray for our Pope John Paul II in his last days.

Unfortunately he passed away today.

God Bless Pope John Paul II...he was indeed a Great Man...

Here's a picture of Pope John Paul II praying before Our Lady of Covadonga in 1989. On his third trip to Spain, he expressly requested to visit Covadonga. He not only visited the basilica and the holy cave, he also went up to the Lakes of Covadonga to walk alone along those beautiful mountain lakes, as he was very fond of hiking. His short stay included a visit to Cangas de Onís, of great historic importance to Christianity, as Spain's first Christian capital city.

http://www.lne.es/media/fotos/noticias/ ... 9_pope.jpg

I will miss him, the first Pope who spoke out against racism, capitalism, war and capital punishment.
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Aquí hay una foto del Papa Juan Pablo II rezando ante la Virgen de Covadonga en 1989. En su tercer viaje a España pidió expresamente visitar Covadonga. No sólo visitó la basílica y la santa cueva, sino que incluso subió a los lagos para dar un paseo solo por la vega de estos hermosos lagos de montaña, ya que era un gran montañero. Su breve estancia en Asturias incluyó una visita a Cangas de Onís, de gran importancia histórica para la cristiandad, como primera capital cristiana de ESpaña.

http://www.lne.es/media/fotos/noticias/ ... 9_pope.jpg

Le voy a echar de menos, al primer Papa que condenó el racismo, el capitalismo, la guerra y la pena de muerte.

Thank you Terechu for sharing that picture with us. What a beautiful picture.

Yes, he was an extraordinary Pope who reached out to so many people. Its amazing how much he was loved especially by the young people.

We will miss him very much. My heart is very sad today.

Barbara

After reading Barbara posting about Pope John Paul II, it brought back memories of stories told to me. They were told to me by a man who was a childhood friend of John Paul in Poland. His name was Father Joseph Wdowiak, born September 29,1916, in Swinna, county Zywiez, district of Cracov, Poland, and he was my parish priest. Father and pastor Canon Joseph Kopijass were arrested by the Gestapo for declining to sign the Volksliste and declared themselves Poles. Father Wdowiak, prisoner, or rather No. 55783 in Auschwitz, subject to beating and starvation, went through the horrible destruction, typhoid fever, and bloody diarrhea. Total exhaustion caused the "body disposal commando" to dump him on the heap of corpses. In the morning the prisoner's would pick them up and wheel them into the crematory. Toward morning one of the worker's blew a whistle and then shouted, "If anyone of you is alive let him move!" Father Joseph in a crazy delirium had a dream, which awakened his soul. He was back home when his mother cooked supper, she baked a blueberry pie. When he asked her for a piece, she took it away and put it on the shelf. At that disappointing moment his father entered and asked him to follow him and help him in the barn. Father's reflective abilities were awakened. Mother passed away one month after his ordination. Father lives and claims him among the living here. Seeing dimly a white powder on the window sill, Father stretched his hand and took all of it into his mouth, swallowing it down. It was salt, which as a hygroscopic substance, stopped the internal bleeding. One of the prisoners seeing that, took his body and carried that skeleton back to the sick. That man was a fine Catholic pastor Rev. Mol, from Cracov Archdiocese. This is one of many stories told to me.

Now we have a new Pope.

God be with Pope Benedict XVI as he guides the Catholic Church through a very troubled time.

Barbara Alonso Novellino

The Germans used to call the new Pope "The Panzer Cardinal" (armoured tank), for his inflexible stand on many issues and the way he would run over his oponents. He is however, one of the greatest theologians of our times - if not THE greatest together with Küng - so whatever his pontificate brings, it will be based on a solid Roman Catholic doctrine and not on experiments and trends.

For me it's bad news that Catholic fundamentalists like the Opus Dei and radicals like the Legionaires of Christ should have even more power now, and more intellectual or progressive Orders less, but the Pope's mission is to defend the Catholic doctrine, and there's none better for the job than good old Professor Joseph Ratzinger. I'm sure he'll know how to keep everyone in his place.

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Los alemanes le llamaban Panzer Kardinal (cardenal acorazado) por su postura inflexible ante muchas cuestiones y por su manera de pasar por encima de todos sus oponentes. Sin embargo es reconocido como uno de los mejores teólogos de nuestra era - si no EL MEJOR junto con Küng - de modo que su pontificado se basará estrictamente en la doctrina católica y no experimentos ni tendencias.

Para mí son malas noticias que los fundamentalistas como el Opus y los radicales como los Legionarios de Cristo vayan a tener aún más poder según parece, y órdenes más intelectuales o progresistas menos, pero la misión del Papa es defender la doctrina católica, y como tal no hay nadie mejor que el viejo Profesor Joseph Ratzinger. Seguro que sabrá mantenerlos a todos a raya.