Rome, Italy, Oct 17, 2007 / 12:32 pm
During the presentation of a book about the last days of John Paul II, Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran said Pope Wojtyla “showed the world with his illness that the infirm have much to say.”
During the presentation of the book “Papa Wojtyla. L'addio” (Pope Wojtyla. The Goodbye), by Vatican analyst Marco Politi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue said John Paul II taught us that “death is only a journey.”
“The Pope struggled to remind us that death is a step, but that we must live with an intense desire for God,” the cardinal said, describing John Paul II as “an exceptional man, a visionary and prophet, but above all a credible witness of the Gospel.”
“John Paul II,” he continued, “was a Christian who resisted and did not give in, and to those who asked him to resign, the Pontiff responded, ‘no,’ because he would carry his cross until the end.”