John Paul II, who was pope for 26 years, addressed Catholic charismatic groups on more than 25 occasions. He called the movement "a force for the renewal of the Church." In 1979, he told believers: "I have always belonged to this renewal in the Holy Spirit."

While meeting with some 500,000 representatives of various movements in the Catholic Church on the Eve of Pentecost 1998, John Paul boldly proclaimed: "Open yourselves docilely to the gifts of the Spirit! Accept gratefully and obediently the charisms which the Spirit never ceases to bestow on us."...

"Many recent news reports, articles and books devoted to the work of John Paul II have focused on his role in working for world peace, speaking for the poor and contributing to the collapse of communism. They have for the most part overlooked the fact that the core of his life and mission was to witness to the glory and truth of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit," Ralph Martin wrote in the June issue of "Charisma" magazine, out now. The full article on Pope John Paul II can be found in the magazine.

Martin teaches at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and is president of Renewal Ministries, a Catholic mission organization devoted to renewal and evangelization.

In 1986, the pope devoted an entire document, Dominum et Vivificantem ("Lord and Giver of Life"), to the work of the Holy Spirit and in it gave profound teaching about the role of the Spirit in revealing Jesus, bringing about personal transformation and empowering for mission. He had a vivid sense of the contemporary action of the Holy Spirit and the need for the church to again "encounter the Spirit."

John Paul II spoke of the Holy Spirit as the one who is "at the center of the Christian faith and is the source and dynamic power of the Church's renewal." He underlined the importance of the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost for the transformation of the apostles and the launching of the church's mission.

John Paul II prophesied repeatedly that God is preparing a "new springtime of Christian life ... if Christians are docile to the action of the Holy Spirit."

Martin also noted that he performed exorcisms for people who were demonically troubled. And after his death, a Vatican City news service reported that one of the Italian cardinals, Francesco Marchisano, revealed that five years ago, the pope prayed with him for healing of a serious throat ailment. The pope approached him after Mass, touched his throat, prayed for him and told him he would be healed.

"Soon after, I was cured," Marchisano said. Others have claimed that there is a whole file of reports on healings that occurred through the prayers of John Paul II.