Text of Pope's Last Will and Testament

Associated Press ^ | April 7, 2005 | Associated Press

[BigSkyFreeper]

The following is an English translation of the official Vatican Italian translation of the text of Pope John Paul II's last will and testament, which was originally written in Polish with successive additions. Dates have been written according to European convention, which makes "6.3.1979" represent March 6, 1979.

The document begins with a Latin phrase that reads, "I am completely in Your hands," and follows with a citation from the New Testament.

The testament of 6.3.1979

Totus Tuus ego sum

In the Name of the Holiest Trinity. Amen.

"Keep watch, because you do not know which day when the Lord will come" - These words remind me of the final call, which will come the moment that the Lord will choose. I desire to follow Him and desire that all that is part of my earthly life shall prepare me for this moment. I do not know when it will come, but, like all else, this moment too I place into the hands of the Mother of My Master: Totus Tuus. In the same maternal hands I place All those with whom my life and vocation are bound. Into these Hands I leave above all the Church, and also my Nation and all humanity. I thank everyone. To everyone I ask forgiveness. I also ask prayers, so that the Mercy of God will loom greater than my weakness and unworthiness.

During spiritual exercises I reflected upon the testament of the Holy Father Paul VI. This study has led me to write the present testament.

I do not leave behind me any property which necessitates disposal. Regarding those items of daily use of which I made use, I ask that they be distributed as may appear opportune. My personal notes are to be burned. I ask that Don Stanislaw oversees this and thank him for the collaboration and help so prolonged over the years and so comprehensive. All other thanks, instead, I leave in my heart before God Himself, because it is difficult to express them.

Regarding the funeral, I repeat the same disposition given by the Holy Father Paul VI: Burial in the bare earth, not in a tomb, 13.3.92.

Apud Dominum misericordia et copiosa apud Eum redemptio

John Paul pp.II

Rome 6.3.1979

Following my death I ask for Holy Masses and prayers

5.3.1990

---

I express the deepest faith that, despite all my weakness, the Lord will accord me every necessary grace to face, according to His will, whatever task, trial and suffering that will be demanded of His servant, during the course of my life. I also have faith that never will it be permitted that, through my behavior: by words, actions or omissions, I betray my obligations in this holy seat of Peter.

---

24.II-1.III.1980

Also during these spiritual exercises I have reflected upon the truth of the Priesthood of Christ in the perspective of that Crossing which is for each one of us the moment of death. In taking leave of this world - to be born into the other, the future world, eloquent sign is for us the Resurrection of Christ.

I therefore read the copy of my testament of the last year, it also made during spiritual exercises - I compared it with the testament of my great Predecessor and Father Paul VI, with that sublime witness to the death of a Christian and of a pope - and I renewed in myself consciousness of the questions, to which refers the copy of 6.III.1979, prepared by me (in a rather provisional way).

Today I desire to add to it only this, that each one of us must keep in mind the prospect of death. And must be ready to present himself before the Lord and Judge - and contemporaneously Redeemer and Father. Then I too can take this into consideration continuously, entrusting that decisive moment to the Mother of Christ and of the Church - to the Mother of my hope.

The times in which we live are indescribably difficult and troubled. Difficult and tense has become the life of the Church as well, characteristic trial of these times - as much for the Faithful, as much as for the Pastors. In some Countries (as, e.g. in that one about which I was reading during the spiritual exercises), the Church finds itself in a period of persecution that is not inferior to those of the first centuries; on the contrary, the degree of cruelty and hatred is greater still. Sanguis martyrum - semen christianorum (Eds: Latin for "Blood of the martyrs - seeds of Christians"). And beyond this - so many people disappear innocently, even in this Country, in which we live...

I desire once more to entrust myself totally to the mercy of the Lord. He himself will decide when and how I must finish my earthly life and pastoral ministry. In life and in death Totus Tuus through the Immaculate. Accepting this death already, I hope that Christ will give me grace for my final passage, which is Easter. I hope too that it shall be made useful also for this important cause in which I am trying to serve: the salvation of men, the safeguarding of the human family and of all the nations and the peoples (among these I refer in particular to my earthly Country), useful for the persons who in a special way have entrusted to me for the questions of the Church, for the glory of God himself.

I do not desire to add anything to that which I wrote a year ago - only express this readiness and at the same time this faith, to which the present spiritual exercises prepared me.

[Campion]

"Worship" is not merely "talking to God". "Talking to God" is prayer, prayer is (typically) part of worship but not synonymous with it.

[MineralMan]

"Mother of My Master
- mockery of christianism

"

Nonsense! By saying My Master, the Pope referred to Jesus as the Master. He also venerates Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, according to the Bible. No mockery there.

However, you might consider your screen name a bit. Now...that's pretty wierd, if you ask me.

[The Lumster]

"Mary was sinless....but it's utterly, totally scriptural,"

Perhaps you would like to cite chapter and verse for that if you think it's scriptural

[iconoclast]

You may have hit it right on the head re the source of your disturbance ... satanic born.

[onyx]

BTTT.
Excellent, thoughtful post.
I agree.
And just think, his last word was "Amen."

[D-fendr]

Why burn all of his personal notes?

I understand this easily. I want mine burned too. They are personal and private, notes and writing for myself of use only to me that I can only write knowing no one will read.

I think the holy father would say, "If I wanted them public, I would have made them public."

[watsonfellow]

The extreme prods on this site are quite amazing.

Actually, the worst example of this is LaShawn Barber. In her posting on the Supreme Pontiff's death, she basically implied that he was going to hell, as he did not agree with her misguided Calvinist beliefs.

Ok....so a man who has more intellect in one finger, more theology, more understanding of scripture than this two-bit conservative blogger has in her whole body is going to hell?

Anyway...to be perfectly honest, I find Ms. Lashawn Barber to be vastly overrated as a blogger.

All she does is link to sites like Michell Malkin and Polipundit. She never does any original reporting, she never links to any original sites (like instapundit)...all she does is recycle predictable conservative talking points.

She's the JC Watts of the internet, in that she is a recipient of conservative affirmative action--the need for conservatives/republicans to exault any minority to positions of prestige and attention, even if they have no basis in this.

Seriously though, when's the last time anyone read an original though from Ms. LaShawn Barber..........all she does is talk about herself and link to stuff instapundit, powerline, m. malkin, and polipundit posted hours before.

If she was not a black woman, would anyone read her?

I think not.

Aside from that, she is an ignorant putz, whose knowledge of the scriptures, theology, christian history, and philosophy is mediocre at best.

[LibertyRocks]

Not sure what you are trying to get at here... Jesus was not a "clone" - presumably half of his DNA was created by God to mesh with the other half (the DNA in Mary's egg). If you are of the "Mary is not a virgin" crowd then consider the fact that she and Joseph STILL deserve our RESPECT for being his earthly parents who took care of him on a daily basis while he was young - I can't imagine it being easy to care for a child back in those times (as hard as it is today).

[ctdonath2]

Authentic worship requires sacrifice

Christ's death was the end of sacrifice. None before were sufficient; none after were necessary. The Crucifiction was a once-for-all event; why then must Christ be sacrificed repeatedly thousands of times per day for thousands of years? and who are we to thrust His sacrifice upon Him again and again?

[Campion]

That is as ridiculous as those that dismiss catholics out of hand as nothing but cultists.

If I believed Protestant worship to be true worship of God, I would be dishonest in remaining a Catholic.

BTW, that isn't to say that Protestants don't intend to render true worship to God (and intention does count for something), merely observing that they objectively don't. Hence PM's confusion between Marian veneration and Mariolatry: Protestants worship God by prayer, singing songs, and listening to sermons; if a Catholic prays to Mary, sings songs about her, and listens to a talk about her, the Protestant concludes that's "worship" because that's what he calls what he does. That isn't what I call "worship," however, and I would not be rendering true worship to God if that were all I did concerning Him.

I'm denying PM's premise.

[Cicero]

Mary was present at the Crucifixion. When Jesus came down from the Cross He rested for a moment in the arms of Mary, before He was carried to His tomb.

That doesn't mean that He thought Mary was God. It means that Mary was His mother and wanted a last chance to say goodbye to her Son before He went into the tomb.

Please. Do you think somebody should have come along and put up some orange tape to keep the mother away from her Son at that time? Do you think He would have wanted that?

[Remole]

Alert, Alert: This news story does not contain the entire testament of the late Pontiff; it only contains about the first 40%.

CNN reported this morning that JPII's testament contained in a 2000 entry a desire to retire from the Petrine ministry. I just read the testament (in Italian), and that view of it is so nuts it's not even wrong. The Pontiff expresses over and over again that he entrusts his life and work into the hands of divine providence, and in the 2000 entry he says:

"Secondo i disegni della Provvidenza mi è stato dato di vivere nel difficile secolo che se ne sta andando nel passato, e ora nell’anno in cui l’età della mia vita giunge agli anni ottanta ('octogesima adveniens'), bisogna domandarsi se non sia il tempo di ripetere con il biblico Simeone 'Nunc dimittis.'"

What the Pontiff says is, now that he has been able to reach 80 yrs of age by means of Divine Providence, perhaps there has come the moment to say, in the words of the Biblical personage Simeon, "Nunc Dimittis" (i.e., "Now let your servant go in peace"). This statement by no means expresses a desire to resign from the Petrine Ministry. It expresses, subtly to be sure, a sense that he has reached a moment in life and history when the Lord may give him his reward for such service.

[MineralMan]

"No property, no money, no checking or savings account, nothing."

Yup. Although he lived in a mansion and was the head of the Roman Catholic Church, he had no personal wealth at all. A fine contrast with some other religious leaders, it seems to me.

He leaves nothing material behind. I'm impressed.

[CompSciGuy]

Thank you,

I find it funny that a self described 'godless atheist' understands the concept of Christianity better than most self professed Christians. :-)

Cheers,

CSG

[Publius6961]

I'd think that was the best plan. Since members of the Roman Catholic church outnumber every other denomination, worldwide, I guess the Pope has something worthwhile to say about Christianity.
...
Oh, well...ugly is as ugly does.

An astute observation. Simple for anyone to understand and to the point.

I personal reject totally any "Christian" sect particularly, and any religion whatsoever, generally, which spends their entire time and energy spreading vituperation at other religions, rather than nurturing and expanding whatever nobility and virtue might exist in their own.

[Daisy4]

Mary pleads on your behalf before her Son whether you're aware of it or not.

---

Jesus intercedes for us.

The Gospel of John, Ch. 17. JESUS SAID:
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son may also florify thee:

2. As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whm thou hast sent.

4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5. And now, Father, florify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

6. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.

7. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

9. I PRAY FOR THEM: I pray not for the world, BUT FOR THEM WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME; FOR THEY ARE THINE.

10. And ALL MINE ARE THINE, AND THINE ARE MINE; AND I AM GLORIFIED IN THEM

14. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,.

15. I pray that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

20. NEITHER PRAY I FOR THESE ALONE, BUT FOR THEM ALSO WHICH SHALL BELIEVE ON ME THROUGH THEIR WORD.

NO WHERE IN THE SCRIPTURES DOES IT TEACH THAT MARY IS THE INTERCESSOR!! Mary was the mother of Jesus, died like everyone else. To pray to Mary is a false doctrine and is leading the flock of Jesus Christ astray>

[lastchance]

Great Post. Many anti-Marian Protestants do not realize that in Mary we see the promises of God's grace and salvation fullfilled. These same promises are ours-not by our own efforts but by the Grace of God.
Pope John Paul II was extremely devoted to Mary. But He proclaimed Jesus alone as savior. People who doubt the Pope's orthodoxy should take the time to read some of his writings. Go to www.vatican.va. Mary shows us how to be Christian- submitt to God's will, accept whatever suffering comes our way, do not abandon Christ when the world turns against Him and love Him above all else. Her words in the Bible are few but very telling. If we follow her example we can not help but to be drawn closer to Jesus the Christ.
I know I pray daily : ...Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

[Preachin']

Why does one place himself into the hands of Mary?

She didn't conquer the grave for anyone.

[Campion]

Christ's death was the end of sacrifice.

Wrong. Biblical sacrifice never ends with the mere death of the victim; read Leviticus if you don't believe me. The priest has to offer the sacrifice to God, and then (typically) he has to eat part of it, along with the person on whose behalf it is offered.

Hebrews 9 and 10 teaches quite clearly that Christ is now offering his blood in the heavenly Holy of Holies on our behalf as High Priest. That's an inseparable part of sacrifice.

why then must Christ be sacrificed repeatedly thousands of times per day for thousands of years?

I said nothing about Christ being "sacrificed repeatedly". Nothing in Catholic teaching claims to do that; it claims to make a single perpetual, heavenly sacrifice present to us on earth.