Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the principal celebrant at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 27 commemorating the tenth anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s canonization. Cardinal Angelo Comastri, 80, former Archpriest of Saint Peter’s Basilica (2005-2021), was the homilist.
Cardinal Comastri preached that “John Paul II must be given credit for having been a courageous, decisive, and coherent man in the era of great fears, compromises, and programmatic indecision.” He paid tribute to St. John Paul’s Marian devotion, commitment to peace, defense of life and the family, and efforts to introduce young people to the Gospel.
“He knew that young people without Christ would never be able to find the meaning of life and would never be able to savor the fascinating truth of love, which is self-giving and not a whim that bends everything and everyone to itself,” said Cardinal Comastri. “The Pope sought out young people, and young people felt he was a friend: a true friend, a sincere friend, a friend who does not compromise to gain an audience, a friend who does not water down the evangelical proposal to become popular.”