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  The Fatherhood of Pope John Paul II
by Sister Anne Catherine, O.P.

On April 2, 2005, millions of people all over the world lost a father. The Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia shared in the loss, mourning the passing of a pontiff who inspired the “John Paul II Generation”. In fact, many of the sisters attribute their vocations to his example and encouragement to “put out into the deep”.

For some, like Sister John Paul, the connection is obvious. Her choice of a religious name was inspired by the man who kept appearing along every step of her vocation path, first on a sign randomly handed to her at the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver. It featured a picture of the Pope looking at his watch and touted a caption that read, “Isn’t it time to think about a vocation?” Sister John Paul got the hint. As pope, John Paul II himself often remarked that in the designs of Providence there
are no accidents.

The Baltimore Sun, October 9th, 1995

Sister Mary Barbara remembers the disappointment of being too young to go with her diocesan youth group to World Youth Day in Denver. Since entering the convent after high school she has more than made up for the lack. Sister saw Pope John Paul II three times in the course of seven years of religious life: “We went to St. Louis for his 1998 visit,” she recalls, “and then Rome during the Jubilee Year, and then Toronto for the 2002 World Youth Day! It was World Youth Day in particular that affirmed me in my vocation, especially when the Pope told the young people to love priests and religious and to stay close to them. I realized he was talking about me!”

I recall how the Pope had a decisive effect on the unfolding of my own vocation. When, as a young college student, I saw the Holy Father in Denver, I will never forget how he called all of us not to be afraid to proclaim Christ from the rooftops. I got chills as he encouraged us to be radical witnesses of Christ’s love to the world. My view of religious life, the Church, of what it means to be human and what it means to be free – all of it has been shaped in large part by Pope John Paul’s vision.

While still a bishop in Poland, Pope John Paul II wrote a play entitled The Radiation of Fatherhood, a poetic work that explores the nature of fatherhood as something beyond mere biology.  The words of the Father, Adam, to his daughter, Monica, aptly sum up the spiritual paternity of Pope John Paul II in the life of millions of young Catholics: “Gradually I learned from you what it means to be a father. It means having the strongest bonds with the world… So let us shape that world together!”