The Passing of a Great Pontiff

TV commentaries described today's recent events regarding Pope John Paul II as truly saddening, specially for those Catholics who are 30 years old and below who have no recall of any other Holy Father besides John Paul II, or Karol Wojtyla. I agree.

The latest news - Vatican: Pope John Paul II Is Near Death - is not much consoling as it is depressing:

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II was near death Saturday, his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys failing, the Vatican said. Millions of faithful around the world knelt, crawled on their knees, bowed their heads and lit candles to pray for the 84-year-old pontiff.

"This evening or this night, Christ opens the door to the pope," Angelo Comastri, the pope's vicar general for Vatican City, told a crowd at St. Peter's Square, where up to 70,000 people prayed and stood vigil in the chilly night.

That pronouncement by Angelo Comastri, that "This evening or this night, Christ opens the door to the pope," is heavy with significance and sorrow.

Logic escapes me on why I am so influenced by the Pope. Perhaps it is because I look to him as a grandfather-figure. And my own maternal grandfather's passing was just a year ago - under the same circumstances wherein he deteriorated gradually at first then agressively towards the hour of death. Or maybe because Catholics the world over look up to the Holy Father for his spiritual guidance.

Whatever my reason is and the developments that shall soon follow, the world will probably agree that this is a significant event in history. Already, John Paul II's life and works are being shown on international TV stations. He's even touted to have helped overthrow communism in Europe (which is viewed as not beneficial to Poland's history):

Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity movement that toppled communism in Poland in 1989-90, recalled the power of John Paul's visit to Warsaw in 1979. It was the first to his homeland after becoming pope a year earlier, and he ended Mass with a prayer for the Holy Spirit to "renew the face of the Earth," words that became a rallying cry.

"We know what the pope has achieved. Fifty percent of the collapse of communism is his doing," Walesa told The Associated Press on Friday. "More than one year after he spoke these words, we were able to organize 10 million people for strikes, protests and negotiations.

"Earlier we tried, I tried, and we couldn't do it. These are facts. Of course, communism would have fallen, but much later and in a bloody way. He was a gift from the heavens to us."

The pope's role in the fight against communism was largely symbolic and moral.

Soviet dictator Josef Stalin had once disparaged the influence of an earlier pope, as reported by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: "The pope! How many divisions has he got?" Yet John Paul turned out to have forces at his disposal beyond the imagination of the communists who ruled Poland after Soviet troops occupied the country at the end of World War II.

In the moments to come, the whole Catholic world shall pray for God's guidance and wait. In the meantime, Vatican tradition steeped in history can provide insights on events as the faithful look for signs of the Pope's Passing:

When a pope dies, the prefect of the papal household, currently American Archbishop James Harvey, tells the camerlengo, or chamberlain, who is the most important official running the Holy See in the period between the death of a pope and the election of a new one.

The camerlengo, now Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo of Spain, must then verify the death — a process which in the past was done by striking the forehead of the pope with a silver hammer. The camerlengo then calls out to the pope three times by his baptismal name — Karol, Karol, Karol. When the pope does not respond, the camerlengo then announces "the pope is dead."

The camerlengo uses the silver hammer to smash the pope's ring — the papal seal or "ring of the fisherman" — to preclude forgery of official documents.

He then tells the vicar of Rome, who informs the people of the city.

The prefect of the papal household then tells the dean of the College of Cardinals, now Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who then formally informs the rest of the college, ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, and heads of state around the world.

May the Lord be with the Holy Father at this dark hour of his humanity.