April 8: Funeral of Pope John Paul II

The largest gathering of heads of state, the one of the most watched events in history, and one of the largest gatherings of Christianity ever, the funeral of Pope John Paul II was unprecedented in many ways (as was his whole life):

• The Ecumenical Patriarch attended in the honorary first seat in the sector reserved for delegations from churches not in full communion with Rome; this was the first time an Ecumenical Patriarch attended a papal funeral since the Great Schism.
• The Archbishop of Canterbury was present at a papal funeral for the first time since the Church of England broke with the papacy in the 16th century.
• Breaking with tradition for the sacred prayer, the names of the Saints canonised by Pope John Paul II, such as Faustina Kowalska and Josemaria Escriva, were allowed to be included in the litany.
• The 14 April novemdiales Mass (9 days of masses of mourning) at St. Peter's Basilica replaced traditional hymns and prayers with those of the Maronite Rite, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. It was the first time a cardinal patriarch of an Eastern Catholic Church offered a novemdiales Mass, in his own rite, for a pope.

Pope John Paul II is set to be beatified on 1 May 2011 (May being the month of Mary).

Giovanni Paulo! Giovanni Paulo!

There was a boy, he came from Poland
He had a mother and a father and
a brother; they all loved him.
They named him Karol.
When he played futbol, he was the goalie.
He would grow up to be strong and to be holy.

Every day he would watch his daddy pray;
the biggest lesson he would learn to
keep him walkin' on the way.
The death of his mother, soon to be
followed by his brother, tore a hole
in his soul to be mended by another.

But the pain would increase when
his father would decease;
loneliest days to be endured
by this future priest.
The beast would have a feast
with all the anger and rage,
but Karol took it deeper
with his love for the stage.

Frustration with Nazi occupation
can't mess with the destiny
of this man's vocation.
They put him on the blacklist,
but he still practiced gift and mystery, breakin' history.

Walls comin' down, it's profound, stick around,
'cause pound for pound, the victory's
loomin' large as a way to live in resistance
with persistence let me give you a for instance:

He went underground, but he was never found.
They tried to kill him with a truck, had no luck.
With a wound to the head, left him lyin' for dead.
Ain't no gain without pain,
let's take it back to the refrain...

You can only know this man from within
so lets begin with the Virgin on a
maximum level contendin' with the devil.
Things just ain't what they seem;
ask the communist regime?
know what I mean?

Yo, that's why we be singin' the Hail! Holy Queen.
His priestly formation for your information
raises up a new kind of culture confrontation.
The judgment, eh, hist'ry will confound explanation.

He will do a new thing with the Papal ring,
He will bring the power of the keys;
Please don't miss this, the forgiveness of
his killer in prison, this is the vision.
Giovanni Paulo, John Paul II,
Giovanni Paulo, we love you!

-Giovanni Paolo, Tom Booth and Fr. Stan Fortuna (with help from Matt Maher)