VATICAN CITY (CNS): Flanked by the recently exhumed and treated body of Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II praised his predecessor for attentively following the Holy Spirit’s guidance, particularly in convoking the Second Vatican Council.
The former pontiff’s body, laid with arms crossed in a luminous glass casket decked with red and yellow roses, rested at the side of the altar in St Peter’s Square for the Pentecost Mass on Sunday, June 3, before being moved to a newly prepared resting place in the basilica.
The Pope said his predecessor, during his “brief but intense” pontificate, was “extremely docile to the action of the Spirit” and an “admirable witness of (God’s) love”.
Before the Mass, which also marked the 38th anniversary of Pope John’s death, the former pontiff’s body was wheeled in procession through the square on a red-draped platform.
Pope John Paul, who arrived after the glass coffin reached the altar, paused briefly to bow to his predecessor’s body before beginning the Mass.
“I would like to underline that the most precious gift left by Pope John to the people of God was himself, that is to say, his witness of holiness,” the Polish pontiff said in his homily.
