The bill, similar to one that became law in Ontario earlier this year, would designate the newly canonized saint’s death as Pope John Paul II Day. However, after passing the House of Commons last year, it seemed stalled in the Senate, with some Senators raising concerns over whether the bill was too religious in nature.
On May 12, Lizon appeared before the Senate human rights committee to explain the intent of the bill, to clarify any “misunderstanding.”
“I would like to really make it clear this is not a religious bill, this is not a bill aimed to promote one religion over another, or to give a special recognition to one particular pope,” said Lizon. “It is a bill to recognize John Paul II’s legacy that goes well beyond his role in the Catholic Church.”
Lizon spoke of how John Paul II stood for religious tolerance, freedom and encouraged interreligious dialogue.
“Pope John Paul II proved that nothing is impossible and stood up for populations who were oppressed by totalitarian regimes,” Lizon said. “He will be remembered for his role in the collapse of several totalitarian dictatorships, and the way he inspired peaceful opposition to communism in Poland leading to its eventual collapse in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe.”
He said he could offer many other examples of the late pope’s influence on changes elsewhere in the world as a result of his many visits where he always “stood for the poor, the oppressed, for democracy and freedom.”
The committee then went to a line-by-line examination of the bill and passed it on to third reading in the Senate, which Lizon hopes for after the summer break.
Lizon and his wife Malgorzata joined a small Canadian delegation led by Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino to Rome for the April 27 canonization of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII.
“It was a gift from above,” said Lizon.
He described it as a “trip of a lifetime,” and especially significant since he had known St. John Paul II before he was pope. Though he did not know him well, he described him as “very approachable.”
In 1981, the communist government declared martial law and Lizon was one of the only ones at his company to join the workers in a strike. He left Poland in 1985 after martial law was lifted. Before then it had been impossible to get a passport, he said.