Archbishop Miller shares memories of Pope-saint on saint’s feast day, Oct. 22

The B.C. Catholic
Coquitlam



Many gathered at All Saints Oct. 22 to celebrate the life of St. John Paul II and to listen to their bishop reminisce about the late Pope.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, remembered being in St. Peter’s Square for the announcement of the election of Pope John Paul II; he was studying in Rome.

“There was great confusion in the square … most people had no idea who he was!” he noted. “The first thing the Pope said when he came out, in Italian, was, ‘If I make a mistake, you will correct me.’ A little Italian boy sitting on his father’s shoulder asked, ‘How will we do this? How will we correct the Pope?'”

More than 90 people came together at All Saints Parish in Coquitlam Oct. 22 for a celebration sponsored by the local Knights of Columbus.

“We’ve gathered today to celebrate the feast of St. John Paul II, and his embracing of the Divine Mercy,” said Daren Hancott, the Grand Knight of Council 5540. The Divine Mercy prayer is part of “John Paul’s ministry to the Church.”

Archbishop Miller recalled working in Rome years after Pope John Paul’s election. “The Pope would always come up to us because he was a kindly man, and shake our hands. He was totally available to the people present.”

“He had a marvellous ability to make you feel you were the only person he was interested in the whole day,” Archbishop Miller smiled. “I was able to (shake his hand) many times over the five years” that he worked in Rome.

The last time the archbishop saw Pope John Paul II was at the end of his life. “He was no longer the great vigorous man that he had been in the ’90s when I was a student,” he said. “He was very old, and in fact dying, and unable to speak during his last days, as his Parkinson’s was very advanced.”

“One of the things he will always be remembered for, which has been taken to heart by the current Pope, is the Divine Mercy. He wanted to show us the primary attribute of God is mercy.”

“To speak about the Divine Mercy is to speak about the love of God that is manifested in Jesus,” Archbishop Miller concluded. “We owe John Paul a great deal for placing this immediately in front of our eyes.”