Rome, Italy, Apr 27, 2015 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A once avid outdoors-man whose final years were marked by disability and suffering, Saint John Paul II witnessed to what it truly means to die with dignity, says a close friend who was with him until the end.   “He gave us tranquility and peace even up to the last day,” Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was present at the Polish pope's death ten years ago, told CNA in an interview. “He restored dignity to death.” Cardinal Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, who at the time was serving as an aide to John Paul II, recalls singing the Te Deum – a hymn of praise to God – moments after the pope died, because those in the room “were convinced that he had died a holy man.” “A man prepares for a lifetime for this important moment, this passage from one life to another for the encounter with God,” he said. John Paul II died at 9:37 p.m. on April 2, 2005, the day before Divine Mercy Sunday – a feast he established during his pontificate – after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Throughout his pontificate, the Polish pope spoke out against what he referred to as the “culture of death” which promotes ideologies such as abortion and euthanasia, and in turn championed for the promotion of human life and dignity. Cardinal  Dziwisz recalled the Pope's last words to him before he died. “I kissed his hands and he told me 'Thank you' and gave me his blessing,” he recounted. He also remembered how John Paul II, while on his deathbed, asked those who had come to say their farewells to read the Gospel to him. “Priests read nine chapters of the Gospel of John for the love of God, and so he prepared for his encounter,” the Polish prelate said. Karol Jozef Wojtyla, who would later choose the name John Paul II upon his election to the papacy, was born the youngest of three children in the Polish town of Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920. In 1942, at the height of World War II, he began courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, and was eventually ordained in 1946. He took part in Vatican Council II (1962-1965), being appointed archbishop of Krakow in 1964, and contributed to drafting the Constitution Gaudium et spes. On Oct. 16, 1978, Cardinal Wojtyla was elected pope at the age of 58. Over the course of his 27 year pontificate – one of the longest in Church history – he traveled to 129 countries, and was instrumental in the fall of Communism in Europe in the 1980s. “He did not create resentment, but instead knocked down the walls between people,” Cardinal Dziwisz said, observing he had close friends who were Jews, Muslims, and other religions. “Everyone was important for him because everyone was created in the image of God.” The archbishop of Krakow also spoke of John Paul II's strong sense of discipline throughout his life, which was always centered on prayer. “He was a very disciplined man from the point of view of moral ethics,” he said. “Even at work, he never wasted time. He always had time for prayer.” In fact, for John Paul II, prayer was never separated from work, Cardinal Dziwisz said. “He was immersed in God and in everything he did, he always walked with God and in prayer.” “He always kept this intimate relationship with God, of contemplation, of contact with God, and here was his strength: peace of mind. God exists, God commands, God, we must follow him. If you follow God, you see peace, even in difficult times, which as Pope, he had many.” John Paul II was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, at a ceremony which saw an estimated two million pilgrims flock to Rome. He was canonized April 27, 2014 in Saint Peter's Square by Pope Francis on the same feast day. Cardinal Dziwisz touched on the impact that John Paul II being declared a saint had upon the faithful. “I think people were convinced of his sanctity, that the supreme authority had approved the road of holiness, because we are sure that we could imitate his holiness.” Read more

Dublin, Ireland, Apr 26, 2015 / 03:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Opponents of a referendum that would recognize “gay marriage” in Ireland face an uphill fight, but one commentator says they can win if people are willing to speak up and focus on the need for children to have a mother and a father. “I think civil marriage is a really critical institution for upholding the common good – specifically the good of children being raised by their own mother and father in a lifelong committed relationship,” said Ben Conroy, a spokesperson for the Iona Institute, an Irish NGO focused on civil society and religion. He said redefining marriage would remove from the Republic of Ireland’s constitution “any idea that there's anything special, or unique, or worth protecting about a child being raised by their mother and father.” “In fact, it’ll abolish the notion that there's anything particularly special about motherhood and fatherhood at all, only ‘parenthood’,” he continued. The referendum would amend the Republic of Ireland’s constitution to read, “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.” The vote on the referendum will be held on May 22, with voter registration closing on May 5. Conroy told CNA that opponents of the referendum are “definitely the underdogs,” according to opinion polls. However, he characterized referendum support as “very soft.” He said most voters who currently favor the referendum have reservations about it, and almost all voters still appear to believe that a child is best adopted by a man and a woman in preference to other situations. He noted that a marriage referendum in Slovenia showed a large majority in favor of redefining marriage in the campaigns ahead of the election, only to lose on Election Day. “The question is whether or not we can get the message about the connection between marriage and the family across, in the face of a ‘Yes’ campaign that has overwhelming support in the media and elite Ireland,” Conroy said. “They’re determined to argue that this is just about love and equality, but I think that's completely wrong, not to mention quite short-sighted.” Conroy said voters in the Republic Ireland should consider Article 41 of the Constitution, which the referendum would change, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which considers marriage as part of the right to “found a family.” “Marriage in Irish and international law has never just been about two people who love each other: it's always been a child-centered institution,” Conroy explained. “I think a lot of Irish people would prefer to see a better way of recognizing the legal equality of gay people without obliterating a child's right to a mother and father.” Conroy said many referendum opponents suffer social pressure and even a “climate of fear,” given that an Irish Times writer has called for the creation of a “homophobia watchdog” to monitor rhetoric surrounding the referendum. What Conroy characterized as “social media mobs” can also target those who do not agree with the referendum. However, he noted that there are situations where opponents of the referendum are in the majority but in fact believe themselves to be alone until someone speaks up. “Talk to people!” Conroy advised referendum opponents. “Tell them you think every child, gay or straight, deserves the love of a mother and father where possible.” Conroy warned that there is no conscience clause in the referendum to allow bakers, florists, printers and others to avoid participating in ceremonies to which they object. He believes that legal cases involving these businesses will become more common, as they have in other places. In Northern Ireland, a baker who declined to make a cake saying “Support Gay Marriage” was sued by the country’s Equality Commission, even though the U.K. country does not recognize same-sex civil marriage. “I think that’s a harbinger of things to come if this passes,” Conroy said. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said that Catholic schools will be expected to teach children that in Ireland people “will have the right to get married irrespective of their sexual orientation.” For Conroy, that was “a pretty huge step” that he doesn’t think people have adequately considered. “We’ve come a very long way in the level of love we show our brothers and sisters who are gay, and it's only a very tiny number of people who don't welcome that wholeheartedly,” he added. “But marriage is a particular institution, with particular purposes, and children – gay and straight – do have a right to a mother and father where possible. There shouldn't be a contradiction there, and I don't think there is.” The Republic of Ireland’s four main political parties all support the referendum. They and campaign groups like Yes Equality intend to spend almost $750,000 to promote it, the Irish Times reports. The main opponent of the referendum, Mothers and Fathers Matter, hopes to spend about $160,000. In a March 10 statement, the Republic of Ireland’s Catholic bishops said they could not support the referendum. “The effects of this proposed amendment will be far-reaching for this and for future generations,” they said. “We say to all voters: Marriage is important – Reflect before you change it.” They voiced concern that if the Constitution is amended, “it will become increasingly difficult to speak any longer in public about marriage as being between a man and a woman.” “What will we be expected to teach children in school about marriage? Will those who sincerely continue to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman be forced to act against their conscience?” they asked. Ireland’s Catholic bishops could consider withdrawing from registering civil marriages if the referendum passes, given that the Church’s view of marriage and the state’s view will be “radically different,” Martin Long, a bishops’ spokesman, said April 13, according to the Irish Times. Almost 60 percent of registered Irish marriages in 2014 resulted from Catholic Church ceremonies. More information about the defense of marriage effort in Ireland is available at http://keepmarriage.org/   Read more