Pope reveals identity of his spiritual mentor

Vatican City, Apr 1, 2004 / 22:00 pm

During a meeting with young people from Rome in preparation for World Youth Day, which will be celebrated on Palm Sunday, Pope John Paul II revealed to the 50,000 youths gathered in St. Peter’s Square details concerning one of his spiritual mentors.

“I joyfully recall the spiritual attraction which the holy Brother Albert, Adam Chmielowski, as he was called, exercised upon my vocation,” said the Pope.

“Brother Albert was a very talented painter and a man of great culture.  Yet at a certain moment in his life, he left his art behind because he realized that God was calling him to more important things.  He went to Krakow to live amongst the poor and to give himself in service to those in need,” he added.

“Later on,” he added, “one of my greatest joys was to raise him to the honor of the altar, as well as to dedicate to him a dramatic work called, ‘Brother of our God’.”