Vatican City, May 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Remembering the late John Paul II on what would have been his 85th birthday, Pope Benedict XVI today, greeted nearly 25,000 soggy pilgrims on a rain-soaked Roman morning, reminding them of God’s desire to comfort the lowly and the suffering.
At the beginning of his weekly Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father recalled, "our beloved Pope John Paul II would have been 85.”
“We are certain”, he said, “that he is watching us from on high and that he is with us. We wish to give thanks to the Lord for the gift of this great Pope, and for everything he did and suffered."
The Pope then took up the weekly catechesis, begun by his predecessor, commenting on Psalm 112, "Praise the name of the Lord."