During his silver anniversary celebration in Rome next month, Pope John Paul II will receive a collection of 10,000 letters and drawings from U.S. Catholic school students. The messages ask how to cope with such traumas as the loss of a pet or a divorce, and pose other questions only children can — or will — ask.
Kelley, 9, wants to know if John Paul, elected Oct. 16, 1978, had to audition for the job. Jamie, 13, is concerned about the pope’s social life: “Do you ever just hang out with your friends like going to the movies, bowling or bingo?” Amy, 10, gets philosophical: “If God made us in his own image, then why didn’t He make us perfect?” And Dylan asks: “Since you are in Italy, how come the Popemobile isn’t a Ferrari or a Lamborghini?”
Those and other jewels appear in “Dear Papa: Children Celebrate Pope John Paul II With Letters of Love and Affection,” one of several books commemorating the pope’s 25-year reign.
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I truly hope that the Holy Father gets time to read some of these letters. Contact with the young people of the Church, and the funny things that often go with them, is the best medicine for a man like John Paul II.