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RELIGION:
How Do You Say Wojtyla
Hilmi
Toros*
ISTANBUL, (IPS) - "Ma, Chi
è? (Who is He?)" That was the
question on the minds of many at
St. Peter's Square on a balmy
autumn evening on Oct. 16, 1978
when Cardinal Pericle Felici
announced: "Habemus Papam (We
have a Pope)."
The identity of the new Pope was
revealed, as is the custom,
slowly. "Carolum," Cardinal
Felici said, and then paused for
some seconds after reading out
that first name.
The crowd was mystified. There
was no Carolum among those who
had been considered the 'papabili'
or the 'Pope-ables'. The only
name that immediately came to
mind was Italian Cardinal Carlo
Confalonieri, the octogenarian
Cardinal Dean hardly seen as
'Pope-able'.
Cardinal Felici then gave the
surname. "Wojtyla" (pronounced
Voitiua), he said, answering the
question but not immediately
solving the mystery.
"Ma, Chi è?" some in the crowd
murmured. "Could be an African,"
someone said.
"E' Polacco, (he is Polish)," a
'Vaticanista', a journalist
covering the Vatican told
colleagues. Calls were made to
the Polish embassy in Rome to
determine just how to pronounce
the name of the new Pope.
Cardinal Karol Josef Wojtyla
then appeared at the balcony to
face Romans. He would be the
leader of Catholics around the
world, but at St. Peter's Square
this was his own flock, since a
Pope is also Bishop of Rome.
Over more than a quarter of a
century of papacy, the third
longest in history, the 'who-he'
prelate from Krakow was to
become a towering figure in
history.
He leaves a manifold legacy,
both within and outside his
Church.
History could easily record him
as the main actor in the
collapse of communism in Eastern
Europe. Polish rulers called him
the "detonator" of the peaceful
uprising. Soviet leader at the
time Mikhail Gorbachev said
later that Eastern Europe could
not have changed without the
Pope.
Some reports mention that the
Pope and then U.S. president
Ronald Reagan may have
deliberately helped one another
bring about the collapse of the
Soviet empire.
In his book published last
February, the Pope spoke of the
"inherent social and economic
failure" of the communist system
rather than claiming credit for
bringing down communism "with my
own hand."
That may be part modesty. But it
brings to the fore the strength
of moral force over physical
power. It would answer that
often-quoted question raised
once by Soviet dictator Josef
Stalin -- how many divisions
does the Pope have.
A Pontiff has 107 Swiss Guards
(the colorful Cohors Helvetica),
well short of even one division.
But the Pope's moral force can
be far stronger than military
hardware.
It was never clear whether
communists were behind Turkish
gunman Ali Agca who tried to
assassinate the Pope in 1981.
Pope John Paul II wrote in his
book that Agca acted "on
commission" but never publicly
revealed his thoughts about any
possible involvement of the
secret services from communist
regimes. The Pontiff pardoned
his would-be assassin and even
went to see him in an Italian
prison as "a brother".
John Paul II may have helped
overturn communism, but he was
no great fan of the capitalist
system that replaced it. He once
called globalisation "a new form
of colonialism." The developing
world had a strong ally in Pope
John Paul II.
John Paul II who called himself
"globe-trotter" spent a total of
two years, or 6.4 percent of his
time, away from the Vatican. He
logged more than a million
kilometres, equal to 29 trips
around the world. Until 1963, no
Pope had left Italy.
The 'who-he' Pontiff of 26 years
ago could go down in history as
the most visible person ever; it
is estimated that hundreds of
millions of people saw him in
person. One speech on a visit to
Manila in the Philippines in1985
drew an estimated four million
people.
What lies ahead after a period
of mourning in many lands is the
secret gathering of the College
of Cardinals comprising 117
eligible electors in the
confines of the Sistine Chapel
to select a successor.
Through the period of mourning,
thoughts have been turning to
the next Pope. No Cardinal can
campaign openly but they will
have to choose from a long list
of papabili that includes
Italians, other Europeans, Latin
Americans and Africans.
*Hilmi Toros, a veteran Vatican
correspondent, covered the
election of Pope John Paul II
and the early years of his
papacy.
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