St. John Paul II said these words privately, though he later made them public when writing his first encyclical in order to explain the centrality of Christ.
Many of us are familiar with the image of a jovial St. John Paul II at the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, greeting the faithful on his election night.
His first public words praised God and expressed his trust in the Blessed Mother:
Praise be to Jesus Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters,
We are all still grieved after the death of our beloved Pope John Paul I. And here the Most Eminent Cardinals have called a new bishop of Rome. They called him from a distant country … far away, but always so close for communion in the Christian faith and tradition. I was afraid to receive this appointment, but I did it in the spirit of obedience to Our Lord Jesus Christ and in total trust towards his Mother, the Most Holy Madonna.
Before this brief address, St. John Paul II had to utter his first words as pope privately, before he ever stepped out on the balcony.
First words as pope
St. John Paul II revealed his “first words” as pope in his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis:
It was to Christ the Redeemer that my feelings and my thoughts were directed on October 16 of last year, when, after the canonical election, I was asked: “Do you accept?” I then replied: “With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother of Christ and of the Church, in spite of the great difficulties, I accept.”
He then goes on to explain why he brought these words out into the open in his encyclical:
Today I wish to make that reply known publicly to all without exception, thus showing that there is a link between the first fundamental truth of the Incarnation, already mentioned, and the ministry that, with my acceptance of my election as Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter, has become my specific duty in his See.
St. John Paul II began his pontificate in a spirit of humility, accepting God’s will for him and for the Church, trusting that God’s divine hand was guiding everything.