A letter to the University from Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.

Dear Colleagues,

The entire DePaul University community joins the world in mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II, whose 26-year papacy undoubtedly will claim a monumental place in the history of Roman Catholicism and the modern era.

As we celebrate the life of this extraordinary and holy man, we recall his deep, profound and moving faith, as well as his outreach to people of all faiths. We recall the pastoral zeal that drove him so relentlessly to so many corners of the world. We recall his frequently historic addresses of the Church's role in past human rights issues and his plea for forgiveness for the Church's past treatment of Jews, women, heretics and native peoples. Here, in the context of university life, we recall in a particular way his commitment to young people, and his brilliant, searching and critical intellect.

We had the great honor to witness the way in which the Holy Father died, just as we watched him live: with an unwavering faith in the Lord and in the power of Christ's resurrection to conquer sin, pain, suffering and death.

The pontiff's prayer, in life as in death, always echoed the perfect prayer of all Christians: "Thy will be done." In these days, let us pray for the eternal repose of his soul and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon the conclave that will elect his successor.

In reverent honor of Pope John Paul II's passing and in keeping with the spiritual traditions of the Church and the university, several memorial celebrations and expressions are planned for students, faculty and staff as part of a period of mourning.

I encourage all members of the DePaul community to take part in these activities--particularly at a university-wide memorial Mass I will concelebrate at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, in St. Vincent de Paul Church.

Several morning and evening memorial prayer services also are planned. A Communion service in the pope's memory is scheduled for noon today in the Barat Chapel on the Barat Campus. On Wednesday, April 6, memorial prayer services will be held at 11 a.m. and at 5:15 p.m. in both the Student Center Reflection Room in Lincoln Park and on the 11th floor of the DePaul Center in the Loop.

Worship spaces--including the Lewis Center chapel and the Student Center Reflection Room--will have black bunting draped over their doorways. Once our new pope is elected, the bunting will be replaced by the papal colors of white and yellow. In addition, the Barat Chapel will remain open for prayer and reflection 24 hours a day until that time.

Memorial displays inside these worship spaces will be created and a memorial table also will be erected on DePaul Center's 11th floor. Students, staff and faculty are invited to visit any of these spaces to reflect and to sign their names or share a personal message in a Book of Remembrance. These books will be donated to the university archives.

The Holy Father's funeral is scheduled for Friday, April 8 (3 a.m. Chicago time). University Ministry will rebroadcast the funeral liturgy throughout the morning in the Student Center and 11th floor of DePaul Center. Light refreshments will be available.

For further information, please contact Richard Balentine, University Ministry's chaplain for the Catholic Community and Ritual Life, at 773/325-4869.

May God grant Pope John Paul II eternal rest, and may His perpetual light shine upon him.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M.

President

Quotes from Pope John Paul II

"Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create."

"The truth is not always the same as the majority decision."

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."

"Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence."

"Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it."

"Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes."

"As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live."

"The future starts today, not tomorrow."

"You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life and that with the help of divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate."

"I have a sweet tooth for song and music. This is my Polish sin."

"To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others."

"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded."

"Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it."

"Work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons."

"From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive."

"I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother. I consider it my duty to be with my compatriots in this sublime and difficult moment."

"Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles."

"Once again, through myself, the Church, in the words of the well-known declaration Nostra Aetate, 'deplores the hatred, persecutions and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and by anyone.' I repeat, 'By anyone.'"

"The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn."

"The fear of making permanent commitments can change the mutual love of husband and wife into two loves of self-two loves existing side by side, until they end in separation."

"The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church. A duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity."

"Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men."

"War is a defeat for humanity."

"Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire."

"When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society."

"When you wonder about the mystery of yourself, look to Christ, who gives you the meaning of life. When you wonder what it means to be a mature person, look to Christ, who is the fulfillness of humanity. And when you wonder about your role in the future of the world look to Christ."

"From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive."

"The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish."

"The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message."

"Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society."

"Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery."

"I hope to have communion with the people, that is the most important thing."