Vatican City, Apr 13, 2005 / 22:00 pm
"To us, above all,” said Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, at a Mass for John Paul II last evening, “falls the task of bringing to fruition the legacy that this extraordinary Pope left to the Church and to the entire world in the course of his life and at the moment of his death."
The memorial Mass, held at St Peter's Basilica, was the sixth "novendiali" (nine days of mourning) Mass for the repose of the soul of John Paul II. Several members of the Roman Curia were in attendance last night.
The archbishop, who is substitute Secretary of State for the Holy See, said that, "In the Apostolic Letter 'Novo millennio ineunte,' which the Pope signed at the end of the Great Jubilee Year 2000, he traced the guidelines for the beginning of the third Christian millennium, indicating Vatican Council II as the 'sure compass' to guide the Church's journey in the new millenium.”
“By calling the Year of the Rosary,” he added, “[the pope] again wished to highlight the importance of devotion to the Virgin Mary. With the special Year of the Eucharist that we are now living, ... the Supreme Pontiff reiterated the centrality of the Eucharistic mystery in the Church."