Thursday 28 April 2011

Beatification of Pope John Paul II: tribute from Focolare

From the moving tribute of the President of Focolare, I take the following passage:
Together with all the other Movements, we have experienced the special love of John Paul II in his recognition of the role they have in the Church, an expression of its Marian dimension. Already in 1987, in speaking to the Roman Curia, he had highlighted the importance of this dimension: "The Church lives in this authentic ‘Marian profile,’ this ‘Marian dimension’ …. The Immaculate Mary precedes all the others, including Peter himself and the Apostles. … This link between the two profiles of the Church, the Marian and the Petrine, is profound and complementary. This is so even though the Marian profile is anterior not only in God’s design but also in time, as well as being supreme and pre-eminent, richer in personal and communitarian implications …".
I wonder whether, given Pope John Paul II's living of the Marian consecration in the spirit of St Louis Marie de Montfort (cf his motto Totus Tuus), this living of the Marian dimension of the Church represents his particular gift/charism for the Church?

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