“He’ll be a hard act to follow,” said Frank Chemery, 82, of Whispering Pines, as he and his wife Adelaide entered the church lobby. “He influenced not only the Catholic Church but the world.”
“He was an amazing man,” said Joan Barrett, 75, of Pinehurst. “Hopefully the next pope will be as conservative as Pope John Paul.”
Walter Bennett, 72, of Pinehurst, said the late leader of the Roman Catholic Church (since 1978) emphasized moral teaching and values.
“This pope reached out to all people,” Bennett added. “He was such a grandfatherly sort.”
“I’m just very sad,” said Southern Pines’ Nicole Hawes, 38, standing with her husband Michael and three children. “He related to people of all ages. The next pope will have big shoes to fill.”
Gerri Guggemos, 63, who moved six years ago from Washington, D.C., to Pinehurst, said, “The pope was a great father to everyone — father to the church, father to people, father to all mankind. Media coverage has been so complimentary.”
Guggemos said Pope John Paul II adhered to church doctrines — doctrines “set” at the death of the Apostle John, reportedly the last to die of Jesus’ original inner circle. Rituals may change, but none of the real teachings should, she said.
She commented on the pope’s physical hardships.
“We believe suffering has great value,” she said. “That’s called ‘mortification,’ a term we Catholics have for the fact that we believe in ‘purgatory.’ We believe everyone commits sin. No one is sinless, because of original sin. Adam and Eve sinned.
“We believe God is very just and also merciful. When we go to confession, we receive absolution from the priest, who’s standing in for Jesus, but we have to pay back for what we have done by prayer and by mortification. In other words, we’ll have less time in purgatory if we offer up our suffering.”
Guggemos indicated one can receive absolution and yet spend some days in purgatory, experiencing “temporal punishment,” before entering heaven. She suggested that a person in a state of “true contrition” (realizing how much Jesus did for him) can receive “last rites” in the presence of a priest and avoid purgatory.
“Only God knows whether a person receiving last rites would have that (true contrition),” she said. “I think the pope would (have true contrition), just because of the way he lives.”
During the morning service, a lector read Scripture describing Jesus’ disciples, despondent after Jesus’ crucifixion. The resurrected Jesus moved through a locked door to appear to his disciples, but “Doubting Thomas” was absent. Later, Thomas was with the group when Jesus appeared and showed his nail prints to Thomas. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
White-robed and gray-haired, Father William Pitts spoke before celebrating morning mass.
“We have lots of fears,” he said. “Fear of death…especially in this parish…and a fear we’re experiencing in our church with the death of our ‘holy father.’”
He told of Jesus’ death, passion and suffering and alluded to the pope’s journey through “passion.”
“We are aware of his wounds,” Pitts said, referring to the pope’s bullet wound from an assassination attempt and his struggle with disease, “the same marks that ravaged Christ.”
Pitts said the fearful early disciples locked their doors.
“We want to protect ourselves…from incapacity…sickness, death…,” Pitts said. “There is no door that can keep Jesus out of our hearts and souls…and when he finds us, he will simply say, ‘Peace be with you.’”
A parishioner offered a prayer, saying, “…For those suffering from doubts and fears…for our pope — that he may be brought to heaven…for our troops….”
Father Pitts celebrated mass and prayed, “…Remember John Paul, whom you’ve called from this life…May he also share in your resurrection…You made him (John Paul) the center of the unity of your church on earth.”
As service ended, Father Pitts announced, “Our mass is ended. Go in peace.”
Steve Crain may be reached at crain207@earthlink.net.
