Auxiliary Bishop Robert Chrząszcz of Kraków, Poland, was the principal celebrant at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on October 22, the liturgical memorial of Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005). Concelebrants included Archbishop Gintaras Grušas, president of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE); numerous ambassadors to the Holy See were present.
Bishop Chrząszcz preached that St. John Paul “took upon himself the burden of the Gospel and carried it to the ends of the earth … Christ cannot be excluded from human history anywhere on the globe, and at any geographical longitude and latitude.”
At the conclusion of the Mass, the faithful processed to St. John Paul’s tomb, where they recited a prayer for peace composed by the Pontiff.