St John Paul Ii, We Love You - Totus2us

Simone, who's half Italian, half Polish, was among the millions of young people with JPII at WYDs and at his funeral: "What John Paul did was that he showed that the Christian, apart from the fact that he showed that the Christian is somebody who is happy because he was a happy person, you could see that, but also he showed that the Christian is somebody who is free. That's why it was so difficult for people to define him; people would say that he was like this or, you know, one minute he'd be in an incredibly serious theological conversation and the next minute he'd be laughing or singing, and people concerned in the secular world with him as the statesman, him and the fall of communism and so on. But I think for me, while that is obviously hugely important, I think he was the example of what a Christian should be: somebody who loves God and of whom nothing is outside kind of what affects him, 'Nothing truly human fails to move us' he said. And so that for me really meant a lot. I think he was a sort of mode

Br Sean, from N. Ireland and a member of The Spiritual Family the Work, describes having been with JPII in Rome: "I think in total it was about 4 times that I could meet the Holy Father and the impression I got from John Paul II was of somebody who emitted real sanctity. I think when you saw him coming towards you, and when you went to greet him, although he didn't really say anything to us, he had that sense of holiness about him, and I think that was something that all of us had felt. A highpoint of my time in Rome (I'd lived in Rome for 12 years) was when John Paul II was dying and we could go to St Peter's Square and and pray, when we knew he was dying above in the Apostolic Palace. When it was announced in St Peter's Square to the people who were there that he had died, the Cardinal who had announced is said that when the father dies, the children come and pray, and that's what we really felt when we were there. And we wanted to go to the funeral; we went and visited his body when it was lying in state.

Matthew, from the USA, describes how Blessed John Paul II had a deep impact on his life: "I know without a doubt now, with hindsight, that John Paul II was there praying for me. Obviously he's a great intercessor for us in heaven and, without me even knowing, he was leading me across the world to find my home in Ireland where I now work with an evangelisation team. He always had a very special place in his heart for all people from all countries: he didn't see the divisions between them, he saw the beauty of each one." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Erin, from the USA, never really knew JPII in his lifetime. It was on pilgrimage to Rome at Easter 2007, when she visited his tomb, that she was first struck by him. "Man's eternity passes through love." - Karol Wojtyla, from his play The Jeweller's Shop. Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Caecilia, from Germany: "I love John Paul II very much because he trusted in us young people. You could feel it when you had a meeting with him at World Youth Day .. He loved us so much and he called us to the mission. He said we had big work in the world to tell the people from the Church and from Jesus, 'Jesus is the joy' and give the hearts the joy." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Blessed John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Br Camillus, from Ireland: "John Paul was such a wonderful person and he had so much suffering in his early life ..He was left all alone in this world aged 20, but he always dedicated and placed himself under the care of Our Blessed Lady, and he renewed his dedication to Mary Immaculate, his Mother.. I am really privileged to have met him and I shall always be keen to pray to him in the few years that I have left. We must thank God for John Paul, the Great John Paul II." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Lawrence, from the UK, speaks about the great qualities of John Paul II and how the message he was giving was so wonderfully clear and beautiful that it made it very much easier to follow the teachings of Our Lord. JPII: "The future starts today, not tomorrow." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Eric, from the USA, has always thought John Paul II was really cool, without hesitation choosing him for a school paper as the person he'd most like to have dinner with! Eric has recently seen the film Karol which does a fantastic job detailing Karol Wojtyla's early life and all the struggles he lived through. Eric is able to visit JPII's tomb in St Peter's, as he is currently at the Emmanuel School of Evangelization in Rome. JPII: "Happiness means to be rooted in love." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Father Peter Nkomazana CMM, a Marianhill Missionary priest from Zimbabwe, was an altar boy at Mass during Pope John Paul II's trip to Zimbabwe in 1988. Fr Peter speaks here of JPII's leadership: as a spiritual father, as a man of prayer who was deep in contemplation. JPII: "If you want peace, work for justice." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Jan, from Italy, talks of how John Paul II's words and love have inspired and helped him, and of how reading St Louis de Montfort's 'Devotion to Mary' made him think of Karol Woytyla reading the same book while he was an 'underground' seminarian. Jan, a film maker, has chosen a quote from JP2's Letter to Artists: "Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life and to dream of the future. That is why the beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God which a lover of beauty like Saint Augustine could express in incomparable terms: Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you!" Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Steve, from the US, went to World Youth Day Denver in 1993 and his life was dramatically changed by God through the witness of JPII: 'He never lied to us and he never let us down.' JPII, at WYD Denver: "Dear young people, with a spirit of generous self-giving, recognise that you are directly involved in the new evangelisation which demands the involvement of all of us. Proclaim Christ who died for all so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sakes died and was raised up." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Robert, from the UK, was introduced to JPII when, aged 17, he read the Pope's encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason). He describes here how this led him to the Catholic Church and picks out some of the moments in JP2's life that have particularly inspired and encouraged him. JPII, in Fides et Ratio: "Truth and freedom either go hand in hand or perish in misery." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

James, from New Zealand, lists JPII's legacy of the World Youth Day, his devotion to Our Lady, how in his old age he showed how those who are suffering are important, and how he was never afraid to preach the Gospel. JPII, in his first speech as Pope, "Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Sr Hyacinthe OP, 1 of the Totus2us team, is from France. One of the things she loves most about JPII was his fearlessness, giving the subject of her Masters Degree in History as an example - his role in building a church in Nova Hota. Another reason is because of his teaching, philosophical and theological, particularly about the human person. Karol Wojtyla, from his book Love and Responsibility: "The human person is a good towards which the only proper attitude is love." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Nathan, from Brazil, talks about his memories of JP2 at World Youth Day Toronto. JPII, at JMJ 2002: "You are our hope, the young are our hope. Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures - we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Elaine, from Australia, was first introduced to John Paul II when a friend recommended she read his Letter to Women, which deeply impressed her. Then another friend recommended she read his Theology of the Body. She remembers thinking 'Wow. I can't believe it. I've found the meaning to life. This is just incredible.' She just knew it was the truth and wished she'd known about it growing up. One of the many great lessons she learnt from reading lots about John Paul II was his compassion and dignity for all human life. JPII: "True compassion leads to sharing another's pain. It does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Marina, from Croatia, has thought of JPII as a true part of her family ever since her grandmother met him early on in his Papacy. She also recalls his visit to Croatia in 1994. JPII: "Do not abandon yourself to despair. We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Ruth, from the UK, recalls her time with JP2: on his visit to England in 1982, WYDs '93 and '97 in Denver and Paris, and the Eucharistic Congress in Rome in the Jubilee Year. JPII, in his encyclical Redeemer of Man: "The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus 2us.

Kathy, from the Philippines, didn't get to know JP2 in his life but, thanks to WYD 2008 got to learn of his teachings on the theology of the body, which has transformed the way she sees things. JPII: "True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Mili, from Peru, describes JP2's amazing apostolic visit to Peru in 1985. Her chosen quote is JPII's response to the young people who'd come to be with him in St Peter's Square in Easter Week 2005. JPII: "I sought you out and now you come to me. Thank you." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was Pope John Paul II's apostolic motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.