Hi, I'm Edward Sree, and welcome to all things Catholic where real faith meets real life.

Do you ever miss JP to Pope St. John Paul II?

You know, he was such a hero for me and such an inspiration to so many around the world.

What I want to do in this week's podcast is take you all the way back to 1978 to the beginning

of his pontificate.

And I just want you to imagine the shock around the world when it was announced that we

have the first non-italian pope in 455 years.

But perhaps even more surprising for me would be his opening words.

The first words he gave us in his first homily at his installation mass there in 1978,

you know, think about all the things that he could have talked about.

It would have made sense to talk about.

He could have talked about war and peace.

He could have talked about the threat of nuclear war, which is weighing on so many people

during the Cold War.

He could have talked about poverty.

He could have talked about various injustices.

He could have talked about the breakdown of marriage and family that was happening around

the world.

He could have talked about abortion and the attacks on human life.

He could have also talked about many problems within the church, the problems of Catechesis

and passing on the Orthodox doctrines of the faith or the problems in the liturgy, problems

and moral theology.

...