Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Agency) - It was 1982, Argentina was at war with Great Britain over the Maldives islands, and the Holy Father John Paul II paid his first visit to our country. Everything took place very quickly: the war, our awareness of the situation, its consequences, the visit of the Pope. One of the hymns composed to welcome the Pope presented him as the “Messenger of Peace”. His visit, shortly before the end of the war, helped to reflect, as a nation, on our open wounds and find a way to help them heal. John Paul II did not stay long, he did make us feel his fatherly love, though, and I believe he brought much of our warmth back with him: from then on it is as if a friendly relationship began that deepened during the years.
After 5 years, in April 1987, we had the joy of welcoming John Paul II again. And why not say it? My faith was confirmed, as well. I had a powerful vocational restlessness, and his visit set it free. In January 1988, a few months later, I entered the novitiate of the Order of the Preachers. I can say, therefore, that my faith and my vocation grew accompanied by his Teachings. As the time went by, I felt increasingly as if the coming of John Paul II to Argentina had meant for all of us, no one excluded, to “leave a door open to Christ”. It was as if his opening message as a Pope, “Do not be afraid!”, had become life for all the people who had opened their hearts to his words and his gestures. (Br. Paolo Santiago Zambruno, O.P.)
(Fides Agency 7/4/2005)
