Petition for the Beatification of Pope Luciani from Brazilian Episcopal Conference (1990)
During
the " ad limina " visit of the Bishops from Region - East 2 (Brazil),
made to the Vatican last Saturday June 9th, the Most Reverend, Dom Serafin
Fernandes de Araújo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Belo Horizonte, delivered
to the Holy Father, John Paul II, the official Petition of Brazilian Bishops to
introduce the Cause for Beatification of Pope John Paul. Signatories of the
question are 226 Bishops, between which, four Cardinals and, just, Card. Paulo
Evaristo Arns, Archbishop of S. Paulo, Card. Lucas Moreira Neves, Archbishop of
Salvador, Card. Aloisio Lorscheider, Archbishop of Fortaleza and Card. Eugenio
Sales, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro. The first signature is that of the
President of Brazilian Episcopal Conference (CNBB), Dom Luciano Mendes de
Almeida.
To
His Holiness
Giovanni
Paul II
Vatican
City
Most
Blessed Father,
The
undersigned, Bishops of the Church in Brazil, admires, with joy, the constant
memories and the crescent veneration that our faithful of all the social classes
manifest for the paternal and benevolent figure of your immediate predecessor,
John Paul I, although eleven years have already passed from his rise to
the Pontificate and his premature death. Therefore:
1.
Considering that the extinct Pontiff left behind himself " a luminous
wake of faith and holiness " and that, in numerous parts of the world, the
faithful already speak about special graces, received by his powerful
intercession;
2.
Considering as a brother in the Episcopacy wrote - " that the fast and
flashing passage of ‘ the 'Smiling Pope’ over Peter’s Cathedral was,
without doubt, a great sign of the Divine Providence for this broken world
"; and that - as written by another Bishop - " Pope Luciani was
the man who showed the world, in tremendous crisis and convulsion, the ability
and the possibility to smile ";
3.
Considering, still, that John Paul I, from his childhood and youth,
heroically strained of living the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and
Charity, over which, during the general audiences of Wednesdays, he
pronounced four unforgettable allocutions;
4.
Considering the value that he attributed to Humility, his preferred virtue, that
he had chosen as maxim for his Episcopal coat of arms (" Humilitas ")
and on which he had said: " I am powder; the insigne Episcopal dignity and
the Diocese of Vittorio Veneto are the beautiful things that God has deigned to
write on me; if a little will come out from this writing, it is clearly
that it will be all merit of the grace and the mercy of the Lord ";
5.
Still considering that it came recently published, in nine volumes, the
"Opera Omnia " of Pope Luciani (Publisher Messenger of Saint' Anthony
- Padova - Italy) and that certainly will be a favour for the future job
of the Commission of the Process of Beatification:
6.
Considering, finally, all that has already been exposed, we have reflected over
what Your Holiness said, with concise expressions, about the " sweet figure
" of your immediate predecessor, " always alive in his heart "
and that, with your permission, we allow ourselves to cite:
a)
about his person :
"
JOHN PAUL I has been himself, message... He was apostle of the Council, from
which he explained, with transparent lucidity, the instructions and translate
rightly in practical the directives... It was a typical synthesis of the man of
God, which is fullness of humanity and entirety fullness of Christ "...
b)
over his spiritual testament, his testimony and pastoral action: " Love
will be always victorious, love can overcome everything " - These words,
that he had pronounced in the last Sunday speech, on September 24, are nearly
his spiritual testament, the deep meaning of all his life... JOHN PAUL I was
" magis ostensus quam datus "...
The
secret of his irradiation, still alive today, is based on the fact that JOHN
PAUL I was always involved from the supreme truth coming from God’s love...
PAUL VI and JOHN PAUL I were live images of the Good Shepherds among
men of this final period of the century, dramatic and thrilling... They were
among us like ' the two witnesses, the two olive trees and the two lamps that
are in front of the Lord of the Earth' (Apoc. II 3.4)... Yes, PAUL VI and JOHN
PAUL I remain as a blessing, because they left this teaching that goes to
the bottom of our spirits: that what is worthwhile is living for the Lord, to
belong to Him, to work, to pray and also to suffer, so that men learn this, that
it is the only and true wisdom: love. Love that is God (Gv 4.8). Love that
created the world and that the Church proclaims to all men. Love that is the
life of the Church and the humanity... May they intercede for us, that we wish
to remain faithful to their inheritance. So may God help us. Amen ".
c)
about the astonishment he caused :
"
We all have had a premonition that, in those weeks, something extraordinary
happened in the Church accelerating its way ... The greatness of this Pope is
inversely proportional to the duration of his service at Peter’s See ".
Making
present all this, Most Blessed Father, we can assure to Your Holiness our very
intimate conviction that we are interpreting the favorable judgment of other
Brothers in the Episcopacy, and translate a live aspiration of the faithful of
the Church of Brazil, as that of Catholics from all over the world.
It
is, therefore, with filial confidence that we introduce to Your Holiness the
Petition for the introduction of your predecessor’s Cause of Beatification, of
saint and venerated memory, JOHN PAUL I. Manifesting, once again, our deep
gratefulness for the paternal benevolence with which Your Holiness always
receives us, we implore, with filial devotion, Your Apostolic Blessing, over us
and the whole of Brazil.
In
the Solemnity of the Lord’s Passover
April
15th, 1990
From
‘Humilitas’ Nr, 3/90
GCM 2001