Pope Francis said that he has looked up to St John Paul II throughout his priesthood in a book foreword he wrote ahead of the 100-year anniversary of the Polish pope’s birth. “St John Paul II was a great witness of faith … Many times, in the course of my life as a priest and bishop I have looked to him, asking in my prayers for the gift of being faithful to the Gospel as he witnessed to us,” Pope Francis wrote in the forward of a recently published Italian book. The book, “St John Paul II: 100 Years. Words and images”, is being issued by the Vatican Publishing House to mark the centenary of Karol Wojtyła’s birth on May 18, 1920. In his five-page foreword, Pope Francis wrote that St John Paul II was “a great man of prayer who lived completely immersed in his time and constantly in contact with God, a sure guide for the Church in times of great change.” “He was a great witness of mercy and throughout his pontificate he called us to this characteristic of God,” Francis said. When Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II in 1978, a 41-year-old Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio was serving as the provincial superior of the Jesuits in Argentina. Pope John Paul II appointed Bergoglio an auxiliary bishop in 1992, elevating him to become Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and creating him a cardinal in 2001. Pope Francis canonised St John Paul II in 2014. “Fifteen years now separate us from his death,” Pope Francis said. The Pope pointed out that there are children and young people today who have not known or only have a vague memory of St John Paul II. “For this reason, on the centenary of his birth, it was right to remember this great holy witness of the faith that God has given to his Church and to humanity,” he said. “I hope that this text will reach the hands of many, above all young people. Let us remember his faith. He is an example for us to live our witness today,” the Pope said.