[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 38 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1828-H1831]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           POPE JOHN PAUL II

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Higgins) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
expressing the deep sorrow of the House of Representatives upon the 
death of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. As a Catholic myself, but 
also as a public official with a keen eye toward domestic and 
international affairs, I rise also to celebrate the life and the 26-
year papacy of John Paul II.
  As history's third longest pontificate, it was not without its 
faults, to be sure. All told, however, it is undeniable that the papacy 
of Pope John Paul II was the most significant in the 20th century and 
one of the most significant of all time.
  Born in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920, Karol Wojtyla was a serious if 
nondescript youth. Young Karol enjoyed dramatics and thought of 
becoming an actor, but was instead called to serve the Church. Studying 
in secret for the priesthood as Poland was occupied by Nazis during 
World War II, young Karol became Father Wojtyla on November 1, 1946, 
and subsequently served in various capacities in his native Poland, 
serving under the legendary Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, and later 
serving in his own right as Archbishop of Krakow, Poland.
  On June 26, 1967, Archbishop Wojtyla was elevated to the College of 
Cardinals, receiving the Red Hat, as it is known in Vatican circles, 
from Pope Paul VI.
  Krakow is known in official European guidebooks as the gem among 
European towns, although its survival under the invasion and occupation 
of soldiers in the wake of World War II and during the Cold War years 
is often believed to be miraculous in and of itself. Whereas cities 
like Warsaw saw significant devastation during World War II, physically 
Krakow managed to survive relatively unscathed.

                              {time}  1645

  It did not emerge psychologically unscathed, however, as the Cold War 
years took its toll on the city and on the Polish people, scars that 
would take the unique vision of an electrician from Gdansk and the 
spiritual inspiration of a religious leader from Wadowice to finally 
begin to heal.
  Cardinal Wojtyla continued to lead his flock throughout the Papacy of 
Paul VI, until its conclusion at his death in the summer of 1978. It is 
right here that the story of Cardinal Wojtyla's rise to the Papacy 
becomes most interesting.
  In 1978, the Catholic Church on a worldwide scale was in need of 
renewal. After years of devout and faithful following of the teachings 
of the Church, many Catholics, particularly here in America, began to 
question the direction of the Church on a number of issues, including 
birth control, priestly celibacy, and the potential ordination of women 
as priests. At the time of Pope Paul VI's death, it was said by many 
that the Papacy required a new direction, one that was perhaps most 
succinctly summed up by the sociologist and journalist Father Andrew 
Greeley, who said that the Church needed ``a hopeful holy man who can 
smile.'' In August, our Church got that man in Pope John Paul I.
  Cardinal Wojtyla could not have attended the August conclave with any 
belief that he would be elevated to the Papacy, as there had been no 
non-Italian Pope in more than 450 years. Accordingly, he and his 
mentor, the primate of Poland, Cardinal Wyszynski, attended the 
conclave and participated in the elevation of Albino Cardinal Luciani, 
the patriarch of Venice, to the Papacy as Pope John Paul I. It is 
believed that Cardinal Wojtyla received votes in the initial balloting 
during that August conclave, but it is said that the announcement of 
his name did not cause the Cardinal even to raise his head from his 
reading. He did not, and could not, expect to be selected by his 
brethren, and so upon the election of John Paul I, Cardinal Wojtyla 
returned to Krakow, secure in the knowledge that the Church had new 
leadership for the foreseeable future and that he would be able to 
return to minister to his flock.
  Then the unexpected happened, the death of Pope John Paul I after the 
briefest of papacies. That the cardinals would return so soon to Rome 
to elect yet another successor to St. Peter was shocking to say the 
least, but even at that time Cardinal Wojtyla could hardly have 
expected to be elected. Interestingly, however, Wojtyla was age 58, an 
age usually considered young for a Pope; but in 1978, following the 
untimely death of Pope John Paul I, a new premium was placed on the 
health and vigor of the new Pope. In addition, Cardinal Wojtyla's 
reputation as an avid outdoorsman and skier continued to feed the 
notion that he was vigorous and able to withstand the physical 
challenges that would face a new Pontiff.
  Not much is known of the conclave that elevated Cardinal Wojtyla to 
the Papacy, but much can be assumed. It can be assumed that Italian 
cardinals would have liked to have elected another Italian, but likely 
were unable to find a suitable candidate. It was at that time, it is 
surmised, that leaders within the College of Cardinals, including 
cardinals from South America, Austria and the Netherlands, saw an 
opportunity to elect a non-Italian as a compromise between competing 
factions of Italian cardinals. They joined with other cardinals to make 
history by electing the first Polish Pope.
  We should stop to think for a moment of what occurred during this 
conclave. We as elected officials in the House of Representatives, each 
of us made the conscious decision to stand for election before our 
peers within our own districts. We made these decisions, all of us, of 
our own volition and with knowledge for the most part of the 
consequences of our respective decisions to run.
  Cardinal Wojtyla did not have that same opportunity. As I have said, 
as a member of the College of Cardinals in October of 1978, Cardinal 
Wojtyla, despite his status as a great spiritual leader in his 
archdiocese, had no reason to believe that he would emerge as Pope when 
white smoke would emerge from the stovepipe at the top of the Sistine 
Chapel. He would soon be surprised.
  It is believed that as the ballots were held, counted and revoted and 
the votes in conclave crept steadily higher and higher for Cardinal 
Wojtyla, he became more and more concerned. It is not known for 
certain, but it is believed that Cardinal Wojtyla, when he initially 
received the required number of votes to be elected, asked for some 
time to pray and contemplate the decision of whether or not to accept, 
and may well have asked for a final vote to confirm the cardinals' 
decision.
  It is undeniable, Mr. Speaker, that Pope John Paul II made major 
contributions to the demise of totalitarian communism, a system in 
which the state claims ownership of everything physical and attempts to 
exert control over everything intellectual. In such a system, no one 
may express belief in anything other than Marxism, and the suppression 
of free thought and individual liberty are its exclusive goals. The 
Church, first in Poland and then elsewhere, broke through these 
controls by offering people a safe place to meet and a new vision of 
the world. The Church soon became not only a place of worship but it 
became a place where writers, artists, and playwrights

[[Page H1829]]

could have their works read, seen, and heard.
  In helping to create a more open society, the priests of these 
churches followed the example of John Paul II, who as young Karol 
Wojtyla in Communist Poland, secretly studied for the priesthood and 
founded an underground theater. This new way of thinking was not 
entirely religious. The Pope traveled the world, including the 
communist world, speaking not only of God but of history and culture, 
of a new civil society steeped in openness and freedom, tempered by 
love, forgiveness, and understanding. This new openness had a 
liberating impact on the oppressed of the world and a debilitating 
impact on their oppressors.
  In the years to come, 26 years, 5 months and 17 days to be precise, 
Pope John Paul II led the faithful through an incredible period in 
world history, helped facilitate the end of a bitter Cold War, and 
helped spread peace and democracy to nations across the world. The 
election of Pope John Paul II took on additional significance in the 
context of the political situation in his homeland of Poland. Pope John 
Paul II strongly encouraged the Solidarity movement in Poland, led by 
former Gdansk electrician Lech Walesa. The Holy See gave Solidarity 
vital material and moral support that further legitimized the movement 
in the eyes of the Polish population, becoming a de facto vehicle of 
opposition to the Communists who, though demoralized, remained in power 
in Poland.

  I remember vividly the image of Walesa kneeling before the Pope to 
pay homage to him and seeing the Pope practically lift Walesa off his 
feet to embrace him, suspending the strict protocol of the Vatican to 
embrace the man who was leading millions of his fellow Poles toward a 
democratic state. Theirs was a struggle of common purpose and the 
Pope's willingness, indeed his steadfast insistence on using the weight 
of his Papacy as a counter to Communist aggression, was a vital 
component in ending Cold War hostilities and producing an independent 
Polish state.
  This point is one of considerable interest to my own constituents in 
western New York. The history of Buffalo is one of rich and diverse 
ethnic neighborhoods, and western New York's Polish-American community 
is strong and proud today as it has been for generations. The pride in 
Cardinal Wojtyla's ascension to the Papacy in 1978 was felt by all of 
Polonia and all of western New York. It lasted throughout John Paul 
II's Papacy and is something felt in parishes from throughout Buffalo, 
Erie, and Chautauqua counties.
  Speaking parochially, the future Pope visited Buffalo twice as a 
cardinal, once in the 1960s and again in the 1970s, visiting Polish-
American churches on Buffalo's east side, where parishes still exist in 
which mass is said in Polish. Today, just as they did in 1978, all 
parishes throughout Buffalo and western New York proudly celebrate the 
Papacy of John Paul II and the special connection that Buffalonians 
have to him and to his years as Pope.
  We have to remember that Pope John Paul II was history's most 
traveled Pope and brought his message of faithfulness and hope to 
billions of people throughout the world, Catholics and non-Catholics 
alike. The Holy Father used his influence to mediate conflicts 
throughout the world and established diplomatic relations between the 
Holy See and more than 70 additional independent nations.
  Pope John Paul II also reached out to many people of other faiths, 
including and especially to Jews, whom John Paul II thought were 
unfairly subjected to years of scorn and discrimination by Christians 
of all denominations. John Paul II led by example, becoming the first 
Pope to visit Rome's synagogue and by taking the necessary steps toward 
establishing diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the State of 
Israel. In the year 2000, John Paul II paid a visit to Jerusalem, 
visiting the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem; and on March 23, 2000, he 
paid a visit to the holiest of religious sites in Judaism, the Western 
Wall. At the Wall, the Pope followed tradition by leaving a written 
prayer at the Wall itself, seeking the Jews' forgiveness for the sins 
of Christians over the years, the text of which prayer follows:
  ``God of our fathers, You chose Abraham and his descendants to bring 
Your name to the nations. We are deeply saddened by the behavior of 
those who in the course of history have created these children of Yours 
to suffer, and asking Your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to 
genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.''
  We also cannot forget that John Paul II was a great spiritual leader 
for the youth of the world and felt a special connection to young 
people in pursuing his ministry. John Paul II utilized the most modern 
of communication tools to bring his message forth and in the mid-1980s 
established Catholic Youth Days throughout the world where the youngest 
Catholics were encouraged to participate in the faith in a manner 
unlike any seen previously.
  It cannot be said that John Paul II's Papacy was perfect. None, 
possibly save for that of the first Pope, St. Peter, could possibly 
attain such heights. Reductions in vocations, financial improprieties, 
sex abuse scandals, and other issues continue to test the faith of our 
people; and it is unlikely that the Papacy of John Paul II, or anyone 
else, could deal with those concerns completely. It will be up to the 
new Pope, whomever he may be, to lead the Church and its faithful in 
the months and years to come and as a spiritual leader to help 
Catholics and people of all faiths to deal with the many challenges 
that we face.
  Undeniably, Pope John Paul II's charisma and warmth drew people to 
his Papacy like never before. Hundreds of millions, young and old, 
Christian and Jew, from every corner of the world came to worship with 
him, and with him join together to make the world a better place. His 
Papacy made people feel unafraid and challenged the faithful to go 
unafraid in pursuit of a better life.
  Before Pope John Paul's predecessor was elevated to the Papacy, he 
too had misgivings about assuming the mantle of leadership that his 
colleagues were about to confer upon him. Albino Cardinal Luciani sat 
fretfully during the voting, but was approached by two friendly 
cardinals who offered him support. One told him not to worry, because 
when God gives a burden, he also gives the strength to carry it. 
Another told him, Don't fear, the whole world is praying for the new 
Pope.
  As the world prays for the peaceful repose of Pope John Paul, so does 
the world pray for his successor to effectively and faithfully lead our 
Church during the months and years to come. Human though he may have 
been, Catholics throughout the world pray for leadership for our faith 
provided by Pope John Paul II. While we pray for the peaceful repose of 
his soul, we are confident that God, upon the appearance of Karol 
Wojtyla at the gates of heaven, has said the immortal words, ``Well 
done, good and faithful servant.''
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski).
  Mr. LIPINSKI. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, John Paul II was a remarkable leader whose intense 
faith, intellectual brilliance, and sheer physical stamina are beyond 
dispute. He has been an inspiration to me and to millions of others, 
and his leadership brought people of all faiths closer together. John 
Paul II was a beacon of freedom and he gave his voice to those who 
could not speak, especially to those who were oppressed by the 
brutality of Communist oppression.
  In public pronouncements during his visits to Poland and at every 
possible opportunity, he bore a simple message: truth matters, faith 
matters, freedom matters and injustice must be condemned and 
challenged.

                              {time}  1700

  He encouraged such dissidents as Poland's Lech Walesa and 
Czechoslovakia's Vaclav Havel to live ``as if'' they were free, 
undermining the elaborate system of lies that the Communist system 
depended upon to survive. Once pretenses were stripped away, more and 
more people realized they were not alone. It was Pope John Paul II's 
courage and decisive action that nurtured Poland's Solidarity movement 
and served as a catalyst to the peaceful liberation of Poland and the 
fall of the Iron Curtain.
  Pope John Paul II was the first Pope to truly take his papacy outside 
the Vatican and deliver his message all across the globe. He made an 
outstanding 104 pilgrimages to 129 countries. I had the privilege of 
seeing the

[[Page H1830]]

Pope twice, once in 1979 at a mass at Five Holy Martyrs Parish in 
Chicago and once at a mass at the Vatican on Christmas Eve. I am but 
one of millions of people worldwide who were moved by the personal 
experience both of his charisma and also the truth that he spoke.
  Pope John Paul II broke precedent after precedent in reaching out to 
those of other faiths. He was the first Pope since St. Peter to visit a 
synagogue and the first to visit a mosque. In an extraordinary 
illustration of his respect for other faiths, he issued a series of 
papal apologies for the Church's past treatment of Jews, for the 
Crusades, and for the Church's role in the post-Reformation wars of 
religion. He understood the critical importance of forgiveness for 
peace, even forgiving his would-be assassin.
  While some may view the Pope's statements and actions as representing 
an inconsistent political ideology, the truth is that everything that 
John Paul II did arose from one inviolable principle: Every individual 
has dignity, and society must constantly strive to uphold that dignity 
and promote a ``culture of life.'' He understood that if the life and 
liberty of each person is to be protected, this principle must motivate 
the actions of governments.
  I join my fellow Catholics and people everywhere in mourning the 
passing of the Holy Father. Pope John Paul II had a remarkable and 
blessed life, altering history and making the world a better place. But 
even with his death, there are still millions, including many youth, 
who have been inspired by his life, who will continue to strive to 
carry on his good work. This is a true testament to one of the greatest 
figures, perhaps the greatest figure, of the 20th century.
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Israel).
  Mr. ISRAEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. 
And we all thank the gentleman for organizing this Special Order. He 
has already demonstrated his leadership in this Chamber simply by 
taking this action tonight, by leading the United States Congress in 
paying special tribute and honoring the life of John Paul II.
  Mr. Speaker, so much has been said on this floor, on the news 
channels, throughout the world about the life of Pope John Paul II. And 
I just wanted to share with my colleagues a reminiscence that I have. I 
never met the Holy Father, but I did connect to him through one 
profound moment that I experienced when I visited the Auschwitz death 
camp in January with Vice President Cheney and two Members of this body 
as part of the delegation of Americans who went to commemorate the 60th 
anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. John Paul II 
could not attend that event. His health did not allow him to. So he 
sent a special message.
  That camp is located near Krakow, a community in Poland that knows 
the Holy Father very well. And at that camp in the middle of a rather 
severe snow in very cold weather, a Vatican emissary read a message 
from John Paul II. He talked about his own visit to Auschwitz in 1979, 
and he talked about how, while he made that visit, which had to be 
exceedingly difficult for him, he stopped before a memorial and prayed 
in Hebrew, and then he stopped before another memorial and prayed in 
Polish.
  John Paul II was a builder of bridges. He was a uniter. He had a deep 
faith and a profound belief in concepts which guide us every day right 
here in this body. We start every day, and every classroom, so many 
classrooms throughout America start every day, by pronouncing a very 
simple concept: liberty and justice for all. That is something that the 
Holy Father believed in profoundly. Liberty and justice for all.
  He believed in peace, but he also had the fortitude and the 
compassion and the commitment and the raw courage to oppose two of the 
greatest evils that the 20th Century had ever witnessed in communism 
and nazism. He was not simply an eyewitness to those evils. There were 
plenty of eyewitnesses to those evils. He was a vigorous opponent of 
those evils, an outspoken opponent not simply when they were occurring, 
but even years after they occurred, because he always wanted to remind 
us of our moral obligation, our fundamental moral obligation, to speak 
the truth against evil no matter when it occurred, where it occurred, 
how far back it occurred.
  I want to conclude by sharing with my colleagues some statements that 
John Paul II has made because I think those statements continue to 
guide us even today even at this difficult time. The Pope understood 
that different people see the world through different lenses, but he 
fought the biases that have long characterized the fault lines of 
different cultures. He counseled us. This is what he said: ``Peace is 
not built in mutual ignorance but rather in dialogue and encounter. 
Unity is not uniformity.'' He built a culture of tolerance and openness 
and understanding. He said, ``Solidarity helps us to see the other not 
as an object of exploitation but as a neighbor in the banquet of life 
to which they are all equally invited.'' A very important reminder.
  And, Mr. Speaker, let me close by capturing a deeply held belief of 
the Pope's that I have long held dear in my own service as a Member of 
this body. The Pope steadily and forcefully worked towards a better 
future for all humankind, and he saw this future embodied in our 
children. Those are the people that we have our most important 
obligation to because they are our future. The Pope said, ``We must all 
work for a world in which no child will be deprived of peace and 
security, of the right to grow up without fear and anxiety.'' Mr. 
Speaker, the greatest challenge for any generation is to leave behind a 
world that is better for our children than it was for us. This Pope 
truly understood and embraced that challenge.

  We will all miss Pope John Paul II for his spirituality, for his 
dignity, for his convictions, for his leadership, and for his profound 
humanity. But much as his faith indicates that his soul will live on 
eternally, the impetus and legacy of his principled life will live on 
eternally here on Earth.
  I again thank the gentleman for his leadership in organizing this 
Special Order.
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 
Ryan).
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I would like to also take this 
opportunity to thank the gentleman from New York for having this 
Special Order.
  I grew up going to Catholic school, 12 years of Catholic school at 
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grade School and John F. Kennedy High School, 
and I received my first holy communion under this Pope. I was confirmed 
under this Pope, and I was married under this Pope. And for those of us 
who are involved in the political system, not only here but around the 
world, one of the things we tend to notice is that in many ways 
international figures are inconsistent. And I think as we celebrate the 
life of this great Pope and this great statesman, I think it is 
important for us to recognize his consistency and how he was consistent 
with all of his philosophies through the Church and through his life. 
And whether one always agreed with this Pope or not, regardless of the 
political pressure that was being put from certain quarters in certain 
interest groups on certain countries, the Pope was always very 
consistent.
  He was prolife on abortion. He was prolife on the death penalty. He 
understood that we honor not only the Holy Church, but God and the rest 
of us through our actions, and this Pope, through his actions, and what 
he advocated for, always for the poor, always for the disenfranchised, 
always for the workers, always for those people who did not have a 
voice, this Pope did not have to worry about the political 
implications, and he acted out of a position of love, and he did not 
always do it when it was just convenient for him or for the Church. And 
that is very important.
  When the war in Iraq came before this Chamber and came before the 
international community, it was this Pope who took a firm position. 
And, interestingly enough, throughout the war it was this Pope who was 
one of the only international leaders we would hear talk about the 
innocent civilians who were getting killed throughout the war in Iraq. 
And whether or not the war was justified is a debate for this Chamber, 
but I think it is important for us to recognize that this Pope 
understood that those innocent lives were

[[Page H1831]]

God's children, too, and the Pope made sure that the conscience of the 
world paid attention to that.
  One or two final points about the example of this Pope. A lot of 
religious issues and a lot of religious connotations have been made 
over the past few years and have made their way to the forefront of our 
political discourse here. And I think this Pope has taught us through 
his life on how we have to understand and utilize a religion 
consistently and the philosophies consistently.
  But on the issues of Christianity, the issues of nonjudgment, which 
is the highest ideal of the Christian faith, not to judge, and for this 
Pope to go to the mosque, to go to the synagogue, to disagree with one 
on issues of the day, but yet never judge one personally or never judge 
one's country personally is a lesson for all of us. The man who spoke 
for the poor, the man who spoke for the disenfranchised, the man who 
spoke for the workers, and the man who taught my generation of service, 
and in the Catholic schools and in the Catholic Church one of the great 
doctrines is that we have a responsibility regardless of what we are 
doing to make money or to protect one's family or to help one's family 
survive, we have an obligation in some capacity to serve others. And 
this Pope in many ways served all of us with his intellect, with his 
knowledge, with his commitment, with his example of nonjudgment and 
tolerance.
  We have a lot that we can digest that this Pope has shown us, and I 
hope that those of us in this body and around the world will use this 
celebration as an opportunity to get to know this Pope in a better way 
and a deeper way and hopefully implement his example in the day-to-day 
workings of this Chamber.
  I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding to me.

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