Chester Diocese
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Pope John Paul II: tributes from our bishops
THE Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster, said the Pope’s personal qualities meant he could be ranked alongside Sir Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela as a man of greatness. In a warm tribute to the late Pontiff, Bishop Peter said: “John Paul II has been the most influential and significant Christian leader for many decades. “His experience of Nazism and Communism gave him a deep understanding of the suffering out of which modern Europe has emerged, but he remained a sharp critic of modern Europe as having abandoned the Christian faith, and becoming a ‘culture of death’. “The Pope’s personal qualities ranked him alongside such great men as Sir Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. One of the great privileges of my life was to have lunch with him in his apartments in the Vatican.” It was as an Anglican representative at a conference of senior Roman Catholic clergy in Rome in 2001 that Bishop Peter met the Pope. The Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Revd David Urquhart, added: “The Pope’s leadership in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ has been an inspiration. A brilliant linguist and tireless traveller, he greatly encouraged Christian faith throughout the world.” The Bishop of Stockport, the Rt Revd Nigel Stock, added: “For practically the whole of my ministry Pope John Paul II has been a massive presence in the Christian Church. His faith was nurtured whilst living under a hostile Nazism and then Communist regimes. “This is probably the explanation as to why peace, justice and integrity of creation have been hallmarks of his pontificate. In his declining years he has borne debilitating illness with courage, dignity and determination. His reign as Pope will be seen as one of the landmarks of late twentieth century history.”
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The Pope greets the Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster, in Rome in 2001, as Cardinal Walter Kaspar (centre), president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, looks on.
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