Archbishop Lori: Influential role of two Popes in convoking, contributing and implementing Vatican Two.

(Vatican Radio) Among those who came to Rome for Sunday’s canonization of Saints Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II was Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore in the U.S. He spoke to Ann Schneible about the influence both these newly-proclaimed saints have had on the growth of the Church in the last few decades.
Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Lori:
Archbishop Lori says Popes John XXIII and John Paul II were “ so influential” in the convoking of the Second Vatican Council, in contributing to the Council and “in helping us to understand the Council and really to implement it in our lives.”
Turning first to the role of John XXIII, the archbishop noted that Pope Roncalli “opened the Church out to the modern world” although he warned that this statement means many different things to many different people.
Archbishop Lori says he believes that this Pope wanted the Church, by listening “to what it is in the hearts of men and women today, to “bring (to them) the truth, the love, the beauty and joy of Jesus Christ.” “That’s what he spent his ministry doing and I think that’s what he called the Council to do.”
When it comes to Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Lori said “he taught us that the truth leads us to love and to freedom” and that in his own missionary journeys “he exemplifies for us what the new evangelization is all about.”
He also paid tribute to “the huge influence” John Paul II has and continues to exert on so many Catholics today, both lay and clergy. “I believe there are many married couples who are living their vocations to the hilt because of John Paul II and many younger joyous priests and I would daresay, some of us bishops, living our lives because of John Paul.”