NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In a visit to the northern Italy town of Brescia on Saturday, September 19, Pope John Paul II invoked the memory of his predecessor Pope Paul VI, a native of the region.

      The visit by Pope John Paul coincided with the closing of ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of Pope Paul's birth. John Paul spoke of him as "a pilot of Peter's barque, at a time that was not easy for the Church or for humanity.

      While in Brescia the Holy Father also presided at the beatification of Giuseppe Tovini, a lay Catholic activist and "the father of an affectionate family." A man deeply devoted to Catholic social doctrine, he was the founder of Banco Ambrosiano, and worked constantly for social justice until his death in 1897.

      Pope Paul VI, who died in 1978, ascended Peter's throne in 1963, during the Second Vatican Council. It was he who named Bishop Karol Wojtyla as Archbishop of Krakow (in 1964) and elevated him to the College of Cardinals (in 1967). He also invited the Polish cardinal to preach the annual Lenten retreat for the papal household in 1976.

      The visit to Brescia was the second of this pontificate; Pope John Paul had previously traveled to the city in 1982. Prior to that visit, the last pope to visit Brescia had been Martin V, in 1415.