Jubilate, Papa!

Today the Pope celebrates the 26th anniversary of his papal election, the third longest pontificate of all time. Since this day in 1978, he has produced over 90,000 pages, welcomed over 1.51 million people, and received credentials from 642 new ambassadors to the Holy See. [source: Zenit]

At a private Mass at 6pm today, which will coincide with the hour of his election, the Holy Father will ask God to bless his future work: "I pray to the Lord...and invoke, through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin, his constant help for the fruitful exercise of my ministry in the Church."

In an interview with Zenit, one papal biographer said: "I think the Pope's suffering has underscored the evangelical character of his pontificate. Perhaps the wisest single line ever written about John Paul II was penned on the day of his inauguration by the French journalist, Andre Frossard, who told his Paris newspaper, 'This isn't a pope from Poland; this is a pope from Galilee.'
The world is now witnessing this 'pope from Galilee' leading the Church, not from a throne, but from the way of the Cross, from Calvary. By inviting the Church and the world to walk the 'via Crucis' with him, Karol Wojtyla continues to preach Jesus Christ to the very end."

For more information on the Pope's life and times, please consult the following:
Pauline
Holy See
here
EWTN