Remembering Pope John Paul II
A Letter from Fr. Don Senior in Vatican City

Dear Friends,

This week I happened to be at the Vatican for the yearly plenary session of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. As you can imagine it has been a most extraordinary time.

I was standing in St. Peter's square with nearly 100,000 people when word of the Pope's death finally came. The silence of the crowd that followed was eloquent and most moving. The outpouring of affection and respect for John Paul II was genuine throughout this throng of people from all over the world. A large percentage was young adults.

The members of the Biblical Commission have been asked to attend the funeral and the various services leading up to it. So our work here is quite different than what we had expected.

I will be thinking of all of you and praying with you, especially at the time of the funeral - thanking God for Pope's luminous commitment to justice and reconciliation worldwide, a commitment that CTU shares.

The Cardinals who must choose the new Pope will be staying in the very place where I and the other commission members are now. Let us pray together that the Holy Spirit will help the church select a Pope of great holiness and vision for the future of the church we all love and serve.


Sincerely yours,
Fr. Donald Senior, C.P.
President of Catholic Theological Union
Vatican City, April 2, 2005