TIJUANA Pope John Paul II's visit to Mexico in 1979 helped define his pontificate, said this city's archbishop, Rafael Romo.
"Seeing how the Mexican Catholic world turned out to the streets to see him by the millions," Romo said, "made him see that his work had to be one of a missionary."
Romo traveled to the Vatican to participate Sunday's beatification of Karol Józef Wojtyla, known commonly as John Paul II, the Pope of Polish origin who was the leader of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.
The archbishop said he got the first opportunity to see the Pope in 1979 "by the grace of God."
"He called me to be a bishop and I had the opportunity to meet him on different occasions," he recalled. "It's a quite an experience to know that I saw him, I talked with him, that I saw into the eyes of someone who is now recognized in heaven."
Romo remembers the phrases that John Paul II used during his visits: "Mexico, always faithful" and "I'm leaving here but I'm not leaving, I'm staying."
"Without a doubt, his visits to Mexico put color in his pontificate," he added.
The archbishop said that the day John Paul will be honored in church activities will be Oct. 22, the day he became pope.
Ordinarily saints are remembered on the day they die, since that day signifies their birth at God's side, but in the case of Pope John Paul II the date of his birth coincides with the season of Lent, that's why the Vatican decided to move his remembrance to October, he explained.
Karol Józef Wojtyla was born May 18, 1920 in Poland and died on April 2, 2005 in the Vatican. He was the first Catholic pope who was not Italian in 450 years.
The Tijuana Archdiocese will hold a "rite of thankfulness for the beatification of the Servant of God, John Paul II" in all of its Masses that will be celebrated Sunday, May 1.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
