Real stories of love

The past weeks, three international events hogged the headlines: The deaths of Pope John Paul II and Prince Rainier of Monaco, and the wedding of Prince Charles to his longtime love Camilla Parker-Bowles. As their life stories were being shown on television, I couldn’t help realize that all of them actually lived the stories of love we can only read about. Theirs are real stories of love.

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Let me quote the beginnings of Pope John Paul…

"Wojtyla’s candidacy became irresistible on the fourth and final ballot on Oct. 16, 1978. At approximately 5:14 p.m., Cardinal Karol Wojtyla had received the votes necessary to be elected pope. At a certain point in the tally, Wojtyla had put his head in his hands. He saw in his brother’s votes the will of God. And so, he answered, "In the obedience of faith before Christ, my Lord, abandoning myself to the Mother of Christ and the Church, and conscious of the great difficulties, accepto."

"To the second, ritual question, what name he would be known, he answered that, because of his devotion to Paul VI and his affection for John Paul I, he would be known as John Paul II.

"The College of Cardinals burst into prolonged applause, and the new Pope was taken down a flight of stone steps and into the small dressing room off the Sistine Chapel where three white cassocks, large, medium, and small, had been prepared. The dressing room is sometime referred to as a ‘crying room,’ because of the emotion that can overwhelm a newly elected pontiff. He had shed whatever tears there were to be.

"He walked vigorously back to the Sistine Chapel to receive the homage of the Cardinals and immediately broke his first precedent. When the papal master of ceremonies indicated that he should sit in front of the altar for the ceremony, John Paul II replied, "I receive my brothers standing…"

"Outside, at the far end of the Via Della Conciliazione, a red-orange full moon was visible from St. Peter’s Square, where thousands had gathered. At 6:15 p.m., the smoke from the small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel started again, and the crowd saw that it was white. A voice cracked over the sound system with the announcement: "E bianco, il fumo e bianco, e veramente bianco! (Its’s white, the smoke is white, it’s really white!)" Inside, Cardinal Wyszynski was telling the new Pope that God had chosen him to lead the Church into the third millennium, an admonition to which John Paul II would frequently allude in the years ahead. In the square, thousands more were pouring as news of an election was confirmed.

"The solemn inauguration of the papal ministry of Pope John Paul II, 264th Bishop of Rome, began on Oct. 22, 1978, with the new Pope kneeling in prayer at the tomb of the Apostle beneath the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

"This new Bishop of Rome intended to be a servant. And so, before the eyes of the world, John Paul II prayed, ‘Christ, make me become and remain the servant of your unique power, the servant of your sweet power… Make me a servant. Indeed, the servant of your servants.’

"When he finally returned to the papal apartment, the cheers continued and he came to the window several times to wave back. They only dispersed when John Paul II sent them home with a laugh: ‘It’s time for everyone to eat lunch," he said, "even the Pope’."

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Now from his deathbed to his funeral, millions kept vigil. The heavy turnout all over the world was a testament to a great Pope as people gathered to pay homage. There were no black, no white nor brown race. There were no rich and no poor. There were no Roman Catholics, no Protestants, no Muslims, no Buddhists or any other faith. We were one. This soft-spoken, unassuming man brought everybody together for at least awhile.

The Pope showed his love in many ways. He forged a relationship with the heads of different religions, from the Dalai Lama to the heads of the Orthodox Church. He was the first Pope to enter a Muslim mosque and the first Pope to enter a synagogue. He prayed at the Wailing Wall and touched the holiest shrine of the Jewish people, the Western Wall in Jerusalem. For the Pope, we had but one God.

Pope John Paul II taught us about humility and forgiveness, invaluable life lessons. He made public apologies for the mistakes that the Church committed. From the persecution of Galileo Galilei in a 1633 Roman Catholic Church trial to the involvement of the Catholic Church with the African slave trade, the Pope acknowledged the sins of his Church. He apologized for stake burnings and religious wars, and apologized for the passiveness of Roman Catholics during the Holocaust. The Pope apologized for the sins of Catholics throughout the ages.

On top of all his achievements, we will all remember the Pope as the man of the cloth who, amidst the chanting of the crowd, "John Paul II, we love you," he answered, "John Paul II, he loves you, too." When he said that, we believed him with all our hearts. And why not? He was nothing less than a picture of truth and unconditional love.

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Many picture the life of Prince Rainier of Monaco as lonely yet indeed productive. I remember his life as one powered by a great love, too, when I was in grade school.

It was in 1955 when Prince Rainier wooed American actress Grace Kelly. Prince Rainier had been on the throne for seven years, so his trip to America was a big event. He met her in Monaco when she was filming the Hitchcock movie To Catch A Thief. Obviously mesmerized by her beauty and grace, he followed her back to America. Although he was a shy man, love prevailed and, amid the media blitz, he made the trip to Philadelphia to meet his future parents-in-law. Just like in a movie script, Grace Kelly chose love over a thriving movie career and she married her prince in a ceremony fit for a princess, but all this ended too soon when she passed away in a car accident.

It is believed that the monarch of Monaco never recovered after that tragedy, and his ability to continue with his life was a sheer of strength of character. Never remarried, Prince Rainier turned his grief into something positive. Over the last years of his reign, various land reclamation schemes increased the size of his principality from 150 to 181 hectares. The small kingdom of Monaco became the paradise for the rich and the famous.

Royal watchers noted that if Prince Rainier was burdened by the scandals that beset the Grimaldi family with indiscretions, he never showed his anger and distaste in public.

Prince Rainier said of his wife, "She was always present and ready to do things either with me or for me if I couldn’t do them. Let’s say the change is that we worked as a team and the team has been split up."

In his death, Prince Rainier wished to be buried beside the tomb of his late wife. Their love story can now continue as they come together in the next life.

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Alove story that defied numerous odds is that of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. Their story proves that true love must be patient and enduring. Star-crossed lovers, their history spans more than 30 years.

Prince Charles and Camilla Shand first met at a polo match in the early ’70s. It is believed that Prince Charles proposed to Camilla but she turned him down, not wanting the life of royalty. He then went on to fulfill his princely obligations and served in the Royal Navy, forcing their relationship to cool down. In 1973, while Prince Charles was at sea, he learned Camilla had married Army man Maj. Andrew Parker-Bowles. This probably validated the Prince’s notion that he had to start moving on.

He and Diana Spencer met in the last quarter of 1977 and they married in a fairytale wedding in 1981. It is said Diana won the hearts of many people except her husband’s, whose heart remained with Camilla, even as they looked like a picture-perfect family with their sons Prince William and Prince Harry. Yet, the public saw the cracks in their marriage, and the public was on Diana’s side. With the Camillagate tape, Charles’ acknowledging his infidelity and Diana’s "There were three of us in that marriage" statement, all eyes were on Camilla Parker-Bowles as the royal home-wrecker.

After the couple’s coldness and separation, Princess Diana had her own string of love affairs. Prince Charles slowly brought Camilla back, now separated, too, and introduced her to the public as Prince Charles’s partner.

When in 1997 Princess Diana met a fatal car accident in Paris, vilifying Camilla became a trend…. How the life of the dead Princess came to be. The lessons Camilla learned from the elite Queen’s Gate School probably helped her take everything with poise. And her patience paid off.

A few months after Diana’s death, Charles arranged for Camilla to meet his sons. She joined Charles and the boys on a holiday, met the Queen in 2000, and eventually moved in with the Prince of Wales at Highgrove at 2003.

The road to the marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla was long and bumpy. While their wedding could be called a destiny fulfilled. I’m sure that like all fairytales, her Prince Charming will be around to fight for their acceptance and survival.

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Three stories in one week… all of love.