On the occasion of the upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II, “WYD Magazine” interviewed Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. As a young man, Cardinal Rylko met Karol Wojtyla and he worked with him for many years. 

Your Eminence, John Paul II will be beatified on 1 May, and he will be one of the patrons of the 26th World Youth Day. What do you expect his intercession will bring to the young people who go to Madrid?

“I think that the beatification of John Paul II will be an important mile stone on the path that is taking so many young people to Madrid. 

I personally expect that his prayer will help the young people gathered in the Spanish capital to remember and rediscover all that John Paul II told them during his long pontificate. I have no doubt that his intercession will help many young people to receive the grace of greater awareness of their Christian vocation. They will see the plan that God has for their lives more clearly, and some will come to a decision about a choice for the ordained priesthood or consecrated life. Finally, as we have already seen at the WYDs in Cologne and Sydney, John Paul II will certainly prepare the way for Benedict XVI and help young people to open their hearts and minds to the words of the present pontiff”.

You met Karol Wojtyla when you studied in the seminary and you were ordained a priest by him in Cracow. When you were called to Rome, you worked with John Paul II in several important roles. What is your personal memory of John Paul II?

“I cannot deny that I am moved when I think of how divine providence has allowed me to be close to Blessed John Paul II since our times in Cracow and then during his pontificate in Rome. I have so many memories... However, if I narrow these down to WYD, I recall so many gestures and words that John Paul II addressed to young people. I remember the great love he had for them, his joy when with them and listening to them, the enthusiasm with which he communicated to them the beauty of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, his skill in educating them in the faith... This pope was a true friend of young  people, a “demanding friend” as he often said. This was a feature of his whole life, both as a young priest in Cracow and as the Vicar of Christ”. 

The first responsibility that Pope John Paul II gave you in Rome was the Youth Section in the Pontifical Council for the Laity. You were the organiser of some of the early World Youth Days: Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991) and Denver (1993). Can you tell us how the idea of these gather ings arose? What did the Holy Father expect from the youth who took part? 

“John Paul II really had a providential insight. He realised that the time when people were seduced by  atheistic ideologies and utopias was over, and that the new generations at the end of the nineteen-seventies ran the risk of being left orphans without teachers and guides. They were being imprisoned by the cultural trends of the consumer society. He was not afraid to show Christ to young people and to ask young people to follow Christ. He advised them to build their lives on a  rock, and that rock is Christ. He invited them to be part of Christ’s Body, the Church. He was convinced that only Christ is the way of truth, goodness and happiness for young people”. 

John Paul II gave himself generously during his pontificate. The number of people he met is uncountable. From the early days after his election he gave priority to meetings with youth. What advice would you give to a young person today who would like to know and “meet” Blessed Karol Wojtyla?

“Of course, young people can be invited to read one of the many biographies that have been published in recent years. However, in order to really meet Pope Wojtyla as a friend of youth, the Apostolic Letter to the Youth of the World of 1985 is really very special. I feel that it conveys his love for young people, a love filled with caritas Christi. The Pope deals with the episode of the rich young man, rich in youth, who meets Jesus while he is in this transitory yet bright phase of life. It is a time when the heart asks many questions, decisive choices are made, and one’s course in life is defined. Love comes first of all, before any dialogue or doctrine. I think that the young people who met John Paul II were touched by his love and embraced by his gaze. That continued throughout his pontificate. I would therefore advise young people to read that Letter as if it were addressed to each of them personally. Another suggestion is to listen to the testimonies of those who knew John Paul II and followed him to WYDs with fidelity and enthusiasm. There are so many young people who discovered the joy and beauty of being Christians after taking part in a World Youth Day”