John Paul II: prayer and priestly life remembered

We bring you Pope John Paul II's words in English focusing around prayer and priestly life, as well as the witness of two guests who like us, here at the radio, witnessed this first hand.

Among them the late Carmelite, Redemptus Valabek, former postulator of the causes of the saints of his Order, who explains why many used to describe John Paul II as being a Carmelite at heart. Also, Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious dialogue at the time of the remarkable prayer gathering in Assisi, who points to how this Polish Pontiff's call for all to pray, was addressed not just to Christians but to non-Christians as well.

In this programme in which you can also hear Pope John Paul reciting the 'Our Father', we also highlight how his prayer life was inseperable from his priestly vocation. How he often told his friends: "I am first and foremost a priest", reminding them how privileged he was to have this vocation because it allowed him to preside at the Church's most important prayer of all: the Celebration of the Eucharist .

Listen to this programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick :