” “An Angelus prayer entirely devoted to the figure of John Paul II on the day of the first anniversary of his death. This is the way Pope Benedict XVI commemorated him before the Marian prayer. “Open, or indeed open wide your doors to Christ!". "This unforgettable appeal said the Holy Father before a Saint Peter’s Square crowded with pilgrims coming from all over the world-, John Paul II embodied it with all his person and all his mission as the Successor of Peter". "By visiting the countries of the whole wide world, by meeting the crowds, the church communities, the rulers, the religious leaders and the social operators", Pope Wojtyla "always announced Christ", as the "response to man’s expectations, expectations of freedom, of justice, of peace". With deeply affectionate words, Benedict XV went over the last days of John Paul II, "the very last stages he said – of his earthly pilgrimage, a pilgrimage of faith, love and hope, that left its mark on the history of the Church and humanity". "Over the last few years, the Lord slowly deprived him of everything, to fully assimilate him to Himself. And when by then he could no longer travel, and then not even walk, and finally not even speak, his gesture, his announcement was reduced to the bare essentials: the gift of himself down to the last moment. His death was the completion of a consistent testimony of faith, which touched the heart of so many men of good will". Then, the Pope agreed to meet the young people of Rome and Lazio on the XXI World Youth Day which is due to be celebrated in all the dioceses of the world on Palm Sunday. It will be an occasion he said- to commemorate John Paul II, the God’s Servant".” “
