Pope John Paul II with Mother Teresa in Calcutta in 1986

Thrissur, April 29 (PTI): Pope John Paul II, who will be beatified on May 1, had an unfulfilled wish — to take a dip in the Ganga.

The Pope spoke about his wish to a senior Catholic bishop from Kerala who met him at the Vatican in 1986 before the pontiff’s visit to India that year.

This was disclosed by the then bishop of Thrissur diocese, Mar Joseph Kundukulam, at a meeting convened here to discuss the details of the papal visit to the town, said Mar Rahael Thattil, auxiliary bishop of Thrissur.

“Those present at the meeting were deeply touched when Bishop Kundukulam (who has passed away) quoted the Pope having conveyed to him his wish to take a bath in the Ganga,” Bishop Thattil said.

It is a rare event in the history of the Church that a person will be beatified within just six years of his death, Thattil said.

Another person to have received a similar honour is Mother Teresa. She died on September 5, 1997, and was beatified on October 19, 2003.

Sister Alphonsa, who was declared as a saint two years ago, and Kuriakose Elias of Chavara were beatified at Kottayam on February 9, 1986, by Pope John Paul II after 40 and 115 years of their death, respectively, he said.

John Paul II is revered all over the world as one of the most popular pontiffs of all time and as a model of saintliness, Thattil said.

The procedure for conferring sainthood, called canonisation, is a step-by-step process starting from declaration of the person concerned as the servant of God, then venerable, blessed and then beatified to the coveted rank of sainthood.

Soccer-loving and globetrotting John Paul II had travelled 12,47,613km or 3.24 times the distance from Earth to the Moon, Thattil said.

The Pope had said in his homily in Thrissur: “I am aware that family life in India has traditionally enjoyed the highest esteem and care. Family life in Kerala and in India has been continually striving to be just such a community of love and solidarity, and I encourage you to defend and promote the institution of the family.”

Bishop Thattil said the late pontiff’s words are more relevant now than ever before as erosion of family values and bonding are the root cause for many of the problems in modern society.

The archdiocese will celebrate the beatification of John Paul II on Sunday as it roughly coincides with the silver jubilee of his visit to Thrissur.