Pope John Paul II was loved by the youth.

When we read eulogies about our late Pontiff, we sometimes forget that he was especially loved by the youth of the world, who heeded his call, by the hundreds of thousands every two or three years, to meet, pray and dialogue with him and one another. The youth poured out their love for him, which was so evident in the days and hours leading up to his death as they congregated in St. Peter's Square to pray for their beloved papa.

Two students from St. Maurice High School within St. Vital parish in Winnipeg wrote and presented a eulogy at a school Mass in memory of Pope John Paul II, attended by about 600 students. We believe that these presentations are representative of the feelings of youth toward John Paul and we herewith present parts of them to our readers.

Emilia Ring writes that "Karol had a strong devotion and understanding of Catholicism ever since he was a little boy. He went to Mass before school almost every day and his religious life was strengthened in a devout household. He was also a very good student, athletic and well-liked and respected by many children at school.... In October 1942 Karol decided to become a priest instead of pursuing acting. From that time forward, he secretly studied to become a priest at Archbishop Sapieha's seminary and went into hiding there from the Germans.... After finishing his studies, he served in a rural parish and his love for the youth became evident during this time as he looked after them and taught them.... After the sudden death of Pope John Paul I on September 29, 1978, the time came after only 34 days of his papacy to elect another Pope. After eight rounds of voting Karol Wojtyla was chosen as Pope much to the amazement of the Italians and all people watching the ceremony. Polish Catholics were ecstatic. This was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, one unlike any other and one who would be loved by many people and not only by Catholics, all over the world."

Judith Jayasuriya calls her essay Our Pope. "Pope John Paul the Second ended his 26-year reign as the Vicar of Christ at 9:37p.m. on Saturday, April the second.... He left this world with all the love and charisma he had arrived with.... He had the power to touch the lives of many people and evoked the good in all of us. He committed himself to God, the Church, and the people of the world, and even in his poor health he continued to go above and beyond the call of duty.... Pope John Paul truly was a pope for the people. He was head of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world as the faith dawned on its third millennium. He brought the Church out into the world and prepared it for the future.

"There will never be a pope who is a prisoner of the Vatican because this pope ripped down the walls of the prison and walked out into the world as no other before him had ever done. He used modern technology to his advantage, preaching the good word and advocating social justice. The world has become a far better place since he was elected pope. Many have flocked to his windows to catch a glimpse of him. In the words of our great pope, 'I have looked for you and you have come to me and I thank you.'"

The following tributes arrived courtesy of Maria Slykerman in Winnipeg. The two young writers, Emilia Ring and Judith Jayasuriya, are both eighteen years old.