This Saturday sees the 6th anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul the
Second that comes amid the continuing preparations for his beatification ceremony
on May 1st.
John Allen works for the National Catholic Reporter
and is one of the U.S’s leading commentators on Catholic affairs. He looks back at
the figure of the late pope and shares with Susy Hodges his own memories of that extraordinary
period in April 2005 when millions of people flocked to Rome to pay their respects
to John Paul's body.
Allen says his "indelible impression" of those days
was that "tidal wave of humanity that poured through the streets of Rome and through
St. Peter's Square" ... and to his mind what was one of the most surprising things
"was the enormously prayerful atmosphere in the crowd."
Allen recalls interviewing
one American man from Chicago who on learning of the pope's death, had immediately
flown to Rome, got a taxi to St. Peter's Square and then "stood in a line for almost
48 hours in order to get those fleeting few seconds in front of the pope's body" and
told them "it was the most powerful experience of his life." Allen continues: "I
think in microcosym that was the story of those days and it was the kind of ineradicable
spiritual connection people felt with this man, which was multiplied by millions of
times." Listen to Susy Hodges' report: