The Catholic Weekly 24 May 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 12 24, May, 2020 FEATURE Divine providence? D o you believe in di- vine providence? If not, it is proba- bly because you expect God to act in simplis- tic ways, and He does not. For one thing, He respects hu- man freedom, and so his way of being present to events ei- ther personal or of a world- wide scope easily escapes our perception. What we gener- ally see so easily is the messy result of human choices. But there is something deep down there that is the mighty, mas- terful “hand of God.” A providential election Just the same, there are times in history when God, tired no doubt of just how messy things are getting, decides to show his hand. Even then, the sceptics may not notice. They may be too self-absorbed or too opin- ionated. An example of this is the failure of many, even in the Catholic Church, to cap- ture the providential signif- icance of the election, on 16 October 1978, of Karol Woj- tyla, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Poland. Wyszynski guessed Like many still alive today, I distinctly remember that day. I foundmyself ina rather isolated place and so I heard the news only late in the day. My feeling of surprise and excitement was huge. Certainly, very few peo- ple, least of all the all-pervasive media, expected that this rather obscure prelate – obscure out- side of Poland that is –wouldbe the cardinals’ choice. Yet, evidently, there was one person who, years before, had predicted it – the soon to be be- atified Cardinal Primate of Po- land, StefanWyszynski. A bittersweet election The appearance of Karol Wojtyla on the world scene, taking the name John Paul II, was a masterful play of God’s providence. It was beautifully orchestrated. He was elected on the feast of St Hedwig of Silesia, a duchess saint impor- tant in Polish history, having been born on the 18th May, 1920, currently the feast of Pope John I. The bittersweet aspect to his election was that it followed the premature death of another Pope, who had already won the hearts of many in his brief, 33 day, pontificate - Albino Luciani, known as Pope John Paul I. A philosopher and an artist at heart The election of a bishop from behind the iron curtain, the first non-Italian in centu- ries to occupy the papacy, was an outcome that sent shock waves through the Soviet hi- erarchy. It would soon prove to be the beginning of the end for a monolithic empire. Here was a man tempered like steel by suffering, an im- mediate witness to the cruelty and injustice of two succes- sive, atheistic and amoral re- gimes. Here was a relatively young, energetic and attrac- tive personality. Here was a philosopher who had care- fully analysed much of the philosophical thought of the twentieth century. Here was a man familiar with the world of culture, of the art of theatre, and of the spoken word. A certainty need by the time Nevertheless, the most important thing about John Paul II was his unshakeable Christian faith, his love of Je- sus Christ and of his blessed Mother Mary. These would constitute the power of his pa- pacy, which was both strong and gentle, firm and merciful. In fact, some 11 years af- ter his election, what seemed impossible came to pass. The forbidding edifice of the So- viet Union unravelled, with barely a shot fired. It was the follow-on of the momentum created by his first historic vis- it to Poland in which he spoke convincingly of genuine free- dom, the Catholic faith that [the Polishpontiff] didnot ask for applause andnever looked troubledwhenhewas makingdifficult decisions…He acted in accordwithhis faith andbeliefs ...” Pope Benedict XVI Pope John Paul II waves to crowds following his election on 16 October 1978. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/GIANCARLO GIULIANI, CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO Titanic figure, ordinary man He seemed larger than life. He had a remarkable effect on the second half of the 20th Century. Yet, writes Fr Max Polak marking the 100th anniversary of St John Paul II’s birth on 18 May 1920, he was an ordinary man who strove to show the whole world that what was possible for him is possible for each and every one of us. Fr Max Polak