A Maltese nun, who over the years worked in close contact with Pope John Paul II, was elated at the beatification of the Pope and said she “always knew he was a good soul.”
Sister Saveria Battistino, 77, was the nun who had taught Pope John Paul II how to pronounce “L-Għid it-Tajjeb” (Happy Easter) when he first included the Maltese version of the Easter wishes at the end of his Easter Mass.
As a member of the Order of the Pius Disciples of the Divine Master since 1951, she has worked for long stretches at the Vatican.
Throughout John Paul II’s pontificate, she had several private audiences with him and in fact most of her nieces and nephews received their First Holy Communion from the Polish Pope.
One of her most memorable moments was when she was at her desk at the centralino — the telephone exchange unit of the Vatican — during a visit there by the John Paul II.
He asked her to pass him her headphones and started answering the subsequent calls himself. Those headphones are today on display at the Vatican Telephone Exchange Museum.
In Malta, the beatification process was followed by several other key people who had, at different times, worked closely with John Paul II.
Monsignor Joseph Mercieca, who was Archbishop during John Paul II’s two visits to Malta, said he felt honoured to have had the privilege of being guided by him: “He always granted me an audience whenever I felt the need. We used to discuss the problems that Malta would be going through, and talk about the best way forward. He taught me never to give up in the face of adversity.”
Monsignor Mercieca recalled one time when the Pope asked him to go and pray with him in his private chapel: “It was just the two of us. It struck me how prayer was always so important for him. He was truly a man of God.”
He said John Paul gave him the courage to follow the path of love. “He always would tell me: forgive everyone, but never shy away from saying the truth.”
The organisation of the Pope’s first visit to the island in 1990 fell chiefly in the hands of Mgr Philip Calleja, who declared himself very happy at the beatification process.
“I first met John Paul II in 1979, a year after his succession when he met the Immigrants’ Directors. When informed I was from Malta, he was delighted and in that strong voice of his called out “Malta, Malta!”
Mgr Calleja said that John Paul II has to be credited for being a protagonist in the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. “Even Gorbachev said that if it weren’t for him, Communism would not have fallen.”
Moreover, he said, John Paul II was deserving of the beatification particularly due to his hard work on ecumenism and with youths and his devotion to Our Lady. “His devotion is something which impressed me: I remember well when we went to Mellieħa and Ta’ Pinu – he lost track of time praying in front of the paintings of Our Lady.”
Mgr Charles Scicluna, the promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict’s pontificate, was present at the beatification ceremony in Rome. “This is an extraordinary event of joy and faith. A great tribute to a great man full of faith, hope and charity,” he said.