Commemorating anniversaries is more than being nostalgic about the past. Most of these events are significant flashes that highlight the best in the lives of people who have left their mark in history.
Of the vital and important anniversaries we celebrate this year is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karol Józef Wojtyła, popularly known as Pope John Paul II, and recently, referred to as Saint John Paul the Great. Born in the Polish town of Wadowice on May 18, 1920, he earned this title not just because he was a religious personality, but also by cultivating significantly the Catholic Church’s relations with the Orthodox Church, the Anglican and the Lutheran Communions, as well as with Islam and Judaism.
His aspiration to create a religious alliance among all Christian denominations can be clearly seen in his encyclical Ut unum sint, inspired by the very prayer of Jesus for unity, “That all may be one” (John 17:21). In this encyclical, Pope John Paul affirmed that the ecumenical commitment made at the Second Vatican Council was irreversible. This was put to light by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI when he wrote a long and a dense letter last May 4, 2020 on the occasion of St. John Paul II’s birth centenary: “… from the first moment on, John Paul II aroused new enthusiasm for Christ and his Church.
