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REMEMBERING JOHN PAUL II

Ultimo Aggiornamento: 09/02/2012 01:56
08/07/2006 16:27
 
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Cardinal Dziwisz: John Paul II Was "Family Pope"


VALENCIA, Spain, JULY 7, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The audience at the Theological-Pastoral Congress thanked John Paul II's long-time secretary Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz with a standing ovation.

Cardinal Dziwisz, currently the archbishop of Krakow, went to Valencia to give the address "John Paul II, Pope of the Family and of Life."

"Taking into account the history of his priestly life, John Paul II can be described as one of the greatest pastors of the family in the history of the Catholic Church of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries," said Cardinal Dziwisz.

"All his theological-philosophical thought, as well as his pastoral service to the family and life, did not begin with his election to the Primacy of Peter, but matured throughout his life and pastoral service as priest, bishop and, finally, as Pope."

The speaker thus highlighted the essential lines of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla's pastoral care of the family.

Such care consisted, firstly, in counting on the participation of the laity.

Secondly, it was not directed exclusively to a determined group of chosen people.

Next, it had to develop with adequate instruments, including programs of theoretical-practical studies on the matter.

And, finally, all these elements had to manifest clearly their relationship with Christian faith and morality.

For John Paul II, "the principal activity in the pastoral care of the family is prayer, as he manifested in his Letter to Families."
19/08/2006 20:23
 
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John Paul Icon
I've been researching orthodox icons, especially modern ones. I rather like this one

In this icon, Pope John Paul II is imaged in the traditional white cassock and red cloak. To the upper right is his papal emblem, a symbol of his ministry which he placed under the protection of the Virgin Mary. He is depicted with gestures of welcome and blessing, as if to invite all into the message which began his papacy and sustained him during his many years as the chief shepherd of the universal Church, "Be not afraid!" [SM=x40790]
01/10/2006 14:30
 
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02/10/2006 23:47
 
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PREVIEW OF DZIWISZ BOOK 'MY LIFE WITH KAROL'
Doctors were convinced
late Pope would die in 1981

By Philip Pullella
Mon Oct 2



VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Doctors who operated on Pope John Paul after a 1981 assassination attempt were convinced he would die under the knife, his ex-secretary says in a new book.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, now archbishop of Krakow in Poland, also says in a memoir due to be published next year that efforts to save the pope were hampered by a series of glitches.

Brief excerpts of "My Life with Karol" were made available on Monday by the Italian publisher Rizzoli ahead of its presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week.

In a chapter called "Those Two Bullets," Dziwisz recalls his feelings when Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca shot the Pope while his open jeep was being driven through St Peter's Square on May 13, 1981 at the start of his weekly general audience.

"I tried to hold him up (after he was hit by the second bullet) but it was as if he was letting himself go sweetly," writes Dziwisz, who served Karol Wojtyla for nearly four decades from the time the future pontiff was a bishop in Poland.

"He had a grimace of pain but at the same time he was serene. I asked him 'where?' and he said: "In the stomach."

Dziwisz, who wrote the book together with Italian author Gianfranco Svidercoschi, said the jeep rushed the Pope inside the Vatican walls to its clinic, where he was laid "on the floor" of the building's atrium.

"It was only then that we realized the large amount of blood that was pouring out of the wound caused by the bullet that had pierced him," he writes.

The Pope was taken to a part of the Vatican where aides believed there was an ambulance, but it was in another section of the small city-state and they had to wait for it to arrive.

He was then rushed to the Gemelli hospital several kilometers north of the Vatican but new glitches arose.

BROKEN SIREN, FADING POPE

"The siren did not work well and there was a lot of traffic. The driver was honking his horn non-stop. The Pope was losing his strength but he was still conscious."

"He was murmuring 'Why did they do it?' He uttered words of forgiveness for whoever shot him. I heard him pray, invoking 'Jesus, Mary my mother'."

The Pope lost consciousness when the ambulance reached the Gemelli. In the confusion and shock, he was taken by mistake first to the 10th floor and then to the operating theater on the ninth floor. Workers forced open two doors to get there quicker.

"The doctors who carried out the surgery told me later that while they were operating they were convinced that the patient would not survive," Dziwisz writes.

In the end, though, he recovered and went on to live until 2005.

The assassination attempt is still not fully resolved.

In March, an Italian parliamentary investigative commission said leaders of the former Soviet Union were behind it.

Their report also said "some elements" of the Bulgarian secret services were involved but that this was an attempt to divert attention away from the Soviet Union's alleged key role.

Both Russia and Bulgaria condemned the report.

At the time of the shooting, events in the Pope's Polish homeland were starting a domino effect which was eventually to lead to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989.

The Pope was a staunch supporter of Poland's Solidarity trade union and most historians agree he played a vital role in events that eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

At a trial in 1986, Italian prosecutors failed to prove charges that Bulgarian secret services had hired Agca to kill the Pope on behalf of the Soviet Union.

In his last book before dying in 2005, the Pope wrote that he was convinced the shooting was not Agca's initiative and that "someone else masterminded it and someone else commissioned it."

16/10/2006 10:08
 
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Today is October 16, and it's passed 28 years since Karol Wojtyla became John Paul II.
I just wanted to share some seriuos and less seriuos photo memories.


VERY young bishop (at age 38 or so)






At work (1980)




An unexpected visit to a village family (1999)


I LOVE this photo










16/10/2006 14:39
 
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DEAR SUE - What a wonderful collection of unusual photographs, and a very beautiful way to mark the anniversary of John Paul's election to the Papacy! Thank you for the photosd and thank you for reminding us.
17/10/2006 16:45
 
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REMEMBERING THE DAY HE BECAME POPE 28 YEARS AGO
Here is a translation of an Italian news agency item:

VATICAN CITY, Oct. 17, 2006 (Apcom) - Special thanks and an emotional recollection characterized the homage paid by Benedict XVI to his predecessor in a television message transmitted last night on Polish television on the occasion of Pope's Day in Poland.

Six years ago, October 16th of every year was designated as Pope's Day in Poland to commemorate the election of Karyol Wojtyla to the Papacy.

"With you," Benedict said in his message, "I wish to recall that unforgettable day of his election to the the Seat of Peter. I still hear the echo of his words - humble, wise and full of dedication, when he answered the question of whether he accepted the choice that had been made by the Cardinals: 'In obedience to the faith, before Christ my Lord, trusting in the Mother of Christ and of the church, aware of the great dificulties, I accept.'

Papa Ratzinger said that moment was impressed in his mind, as well as John Paul's first appearanee before the world as Pope.

"I see before me his strong and serene figure on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, when for the first time he gave his blessing Urbi et Orbi, entrusting himself to the protection of Our Lady and to the love of everyone in the world of whom he ha had beocme pastor and guide. And I have never forgotten his prophetic call: 'Do not be afraid! Open your doors to Christ!'"

The German Pope then expressed thanks to God because he was able to "spend more than two decades by his side, rejoicing in his goodness and friendship, and that now, I am able to continue his work under his protective attention from the house of the Lord. "

"I thank God," he concluded, "for his life that was spent in the love of Christ and of all men, a life which has enriched all of humanity in its quest for brotherhood and pace."

AP filed this earlier about Pope's Day :

Pope John Paul II
honored on bank notes

By Ryan Lucas
October 16, 2006



WARSAW, Poland (AP) --Poland's central bank on Monday issued 2 million collectors' bank notes bearing the image of the late Pope John Paul II, marking the 28th anniversary of the late pontiff's election.

John Paul, born Karol Wojtyla in the Polish town of Wadowice, is revered in his homeland, where he helped to inspire the pro-democracy Solidarity movement in the 1980s.

The National Bank of Poland's special notes have a face value of $16, and sell for $29.

The front of the bills feature an image of John Paul II holding his crucifix-topped staff against a background of the world map.

On the back, John Paul is depicted kissing the hand of a Polish cardinal. The design includes a quote from the late pontiff: "There would not be a Polish pope at the Holy See if not for your faith, not backing down when faced with prison and suffering, your heroic hope."

Vuong Anh Toan, 39, who has lived in Poland since moving from Vietnam 10 years ago, bought three bills for his wife and son.

"I'm not a Catholic, my wife is, but I loved the pope," he said.

Andrzej Nowakowski, who also lined up at the central bank's headquarters in downtown Warsaw, snapped up six of the commemorative notes for his wife and grandsons because John Paul "was the greatest Pole."

John Paul was elected Pope Oct. 16, 1978. He died on April 2, 2005.

Last June, the national bank issued gold, silver and copper alloy commemorative coins of John Paul to coincide with the start of the beatification process for the late pontiff.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Curt Jester on his blog www.splendoroftruth.com/
had this picture of the Papal banknote:



[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/11/2006 13.52]

04/11/2006 13:55
 
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Benefan posted this item in NEWS ABOUT THE CHURCH, but I am also posting it here for the record:

Vatican studies John Paul 'miracle'
By Richard Owen
Times Online UK
Nov. 4, 2006



THE Vatican is to study evidence of a second purported miracle performed by Pope John Paul II which, if upheld, would secure the sainthood of the late pontiff.

A senior Italian prelate claims that a young man in his diocese was miraculously cured of lung cancer after his wife saw the Pope in a dream.

Mgr Gerardo Pierro, the Archbishop of Salerno in southern Italy, said that the man — who has not been named — had completely recovered after his wife prayed to John Paul II, who appeared to her while she was asleep and assured her that her husband would return to full health.

A few days later doctors noticed “a marked improvement” and within weeks his cancer had disappeared, the Archbishop said. He said he was confident that a miracle had taken place. If approved by the Vatican, the alleged miracle means that John Paul II is on course for beatification.

Candidates for beatification — which confers the title Blessed — must be shown not only to have led a virtuous life and displayed heroic virtues, but also to have been responsible for a medically inexplicable cure after their death by responding from the afterlife to prayers of intercession.

Beatification is the step before sainthood, for which proof of two such miracles is required.

The Vatican is already examining reports of a first miracle, involving a French nun apparently cured of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, from which John Paul also suffered, after praying for his intercession.

The “dream at Salerno” would provide the second miracle necessary for canonisation. Vatican sources cautioned that there was no timetable and said that procedures had to be meticulously observed. The process starts at diocesan level, after which the evidence is examined by theologians and medical experts at the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Pope Benedict XVI has put his Polish-born predecessor on a “fast track” to beatification, waiving a rule under which the Vatican normally waits five years after the candidate’s death before launching the beatification process. John Paul II, who was elected in 1978, died in April last year.

At his funeral mourners carried banners reading “Santo Subito” — a saint immediately — and thousands still queue every day at the late pontiff’s tomb in St Peter’s.

Pope Benedict has made clear that he does not intend to create as many saints as John Paul II, who canonised more people than all his predecessors.

However, Father Slawomir Oder, the Polish “postulator” of the cause of John Paul II, said that many Catholics — not least in Poland — believe John Paul is already a saint.

The dossier on John Paul II was completed this year at diocesan level in Cracow, where the late Pope had been priest, archbishop and cardinal before his election as pontiff.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul II’s former secretary and now Archbishop of Cracow, said that he hoped to move a collection of the late Pope’s writings from Rome to Cracow.

Mgr Dziwisz disobeyed an instruction in John Paul’s will that his papers should be burnt, arguing that they amounted to “great riches”, which could help the beatification process.

The papers are currently held at a centre for Polish pilgrims in Rome.

12/11/2006 02:30
 
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From Nessuna today, a beautiful picture of the 'older' John Paul II:


And from Josie a ferw days ago and re-posted in GOOD MORNING,
Cardinal Ratzinger salutes his friend who has just been elected Pope and has taken the name John Paul II.
25/11/2006 03:09
 
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THE LIFE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
If you didn't see THE WORLD OVER tonight on EWTN, try and catch a rerun. It was an hour's discussion between Raymond Arroyo first with Jon Voigt and then with Cary Elwes, who as you know both played John Paul II in the movie which is coming out on DVD, THE LIFE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II.

The interviews were a fascinating insight into how these two marvellous actors set about playing such a giant as John Paul II. There were some very touching moments, both about JPII and about the actors themselves and how it has affected their lives.

And we get to see Pope Benedict too -- they both told very amusing and sweet stories about how they each met Pope Benedict at the Vatican and sat through the premiere(s) with him just a few feet away, listening to the movie in Italian.

Reruns will be shown on EWTN:
If you're on Eastern Time -
Saturday 1 a.m.
Monday 10 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Tuesday 1 p.m.

[Modificato da Music of Lorien 25/11/2006 3.14]

24/12/2006 15:53
 
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ROME'S MAIN TRAIN STATION NOW NAMED AFTER JPII
Lady Ratzinger contributed this item, translated here, to the main forum:

After 140 years, Rome's Stazione Termini - main terminal for all trains in Italy, and one of Europe's largest and busiest train hubs - will now be known as Stazione Termini Giovanni Paolo VI.

The station weas dedicated to the late Pope in a ceremony yesterday, 12/23/06. A commemorative stele designed by architect Roberto Malfatto was unveiled in the presence of the mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, VAtican Secretary of State; and Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's Vicar in Rome.

The stele is found in the central gallery of the terminal, used by an average of 480 thousand persons daily (150 million annually).

In his address, Mayor Veltroni paid homage to John Paul II as "a man who linked himself to the idea of dialog, of understanding other values in continuously listening to a society in the process of change."

Veltroni said "This has led us - in close cooperation with the Italian national railways - to dedicate this place in his honor, a place of encounter and exchange, where many people begin their journeys."

"They will see this memorial - " he continued, "Catholic travellers mostly, but also Muslims who will not forget that John Paul II called them "Muslim brothers", Jews who will remember when John Paul II embraced Rabbi Toaffin the Synagogue of Rome, and all of us Romans, who will remember a man who loved this city very much."

Cardinal Ruini also underscored the late Pope's great klove for Rome. "He prayed everyday for Rome, for the people of Rome, the Church of Rome, all Roman families."

He also recalled that "John Paul II was the travelling Pope, and so the Stazione Termini, a place of departures and arrivals, is very appropriately dedicated to his memory which will always be alive in our hearts."

Cardinal Bertone, who brought Pope Benedict's personal geetings and wishes, referred to the role of the terminal station in the history of the Church.

"I remember above all one episode: the first time that Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, Primate of Poland, came to Rome in 1962 for the Second Vatican Council, accompanied by then Monsignor Karol Wojtyla. Wyszynski had recently been released from prison by the Communists, and he came to take part in the Council accompanied by that young bishop.

"When they arrived at Stazione Termini, there was an immense crowd. All other trains had been stopped temporarily. And when the train pulled in from Warsaw and Cardinal Wysszinski showed himself at the window, there was a wave of emotion in the crowd. A lady came up and presented the cardinal with a bouquet of red roses...Such scenes this place has witnessed.

"I bring the mayor and the Italian state railways the greetings and wishes of Pope Benedict XVI, as well as his pleasure and his gratitude for today's dedication. When we spoke this morning, he also asked me to bring you his blessing. And I also address to everyone, in the name of the Holy Father, most heartfelt wishes for a Mery Christmas and a Happy New Year."

There are actually two commemorative steles, each 12 meters tall, bearing the new name "Stazione Termini Giovanni Paolo II", both placed conspicuously near the two areas where most people pass through.


16/01/2007 03:08
 
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A MUST-HAVE BOOK
Cardinal Dsiwisz's memoir, A LIFE WITH KAROL, is scheduled to come out on January 24 in Italy in its original Italian version (he co-wrote it with an Italian journalist].

Meanwhile, here is a book on JP-II to go out and get now

from
www.ignatius.com/ViewProduct.aspx?SID=1&Product_ID=2864&...

The Miracles of John Paul II
Pawel Zuchniewicz


An instant best-seller when released in Europe in January, this powerful book describes the life and impact of Pope John Paul II as told by individuals from all over the world who give moving personal testimonies how they experienced healings through the intercession of Pope John Paul II during his lifetime. From little children to old adults, including Cardinals, well-known lay people and many others, these detailed testimonies reveal amazing healings and answers to prayers through the direct intervention of John Paul II while still alive.

This book also takes us behind the scenes of the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt on the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, shedding new light on this event by presenting it in the context of the Third Secret of Fatima. World Youth Days are also examined, revealing the incredible spiritual impact the Pope had on the young people as testified by many of the youth at WYD events all over the globe.

Lavishly illustrated with photographs.



21/01/2007 18:23
 
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In the house of his Father
... and the arms of Mary

22/01/2007 14:02
 
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John Paul sainthood process progressing




ROME, Jan. 21 (AP) - Church officials were nearly finished documenting the late Pope John Paul II's life as part of the beatification process toward making him a saint, the pontiff's personal secretary said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz told Italian state radio that interviews had been completed with people in Poland who knew John Paul before he became pope, and testimony was wrapping up with witnesses in Rome.

John Paul died in April 2005 after serving for more than 26 years as pope. Shortly after succeeding him, Pope Benedict XVI waived the five-year waiting period following a person's death to begin a case for possible sainthood. Beatification is the first formal step in the process.

"I am happy because the cause (for beatification) is proceeding well," said Dziwisz, who was John Paul's personal aide for decades and was named to the Krakow post after the pope's death. "People are discovering, even those who before watched with curiosity ... the true face of John Paul II and his heritage."
23/01/2007 01:48
 
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DSIWISZ MEMOIRS OUT THIS WEEK
Dsiwisz convinced USSR
was behind Agca's attempt
to kill John Paul II

By Philip Pullella
Mon Jan 22




ROME (Reuters) - The late Pope John Paul's closest aide is convinced the former Soviet Union was behind the assassination attempt on the pontiff in 1981 because he was a threat to its power, according to the aide's memoirs.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Pope's private secretary for nearly four decades, writes of his life with the former Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in a book called "A Life with Karol" to be released by Italy's Rizzoli publishers on Wednesday.

Dziwisz, now the archbishop of Krakow in the late pope's native Poland, also describes how the Pope spent nearly all of September 11, 2001, praying in his private chapel or watching live television reports of that day's attacks.

In one chapter of the book, due out in Poland next week, Dziwisz recalls May 13, 1981, the day Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca shot the Pope while his open jeep was being driven through St Peter's Square at the start of his weekly general audience.

"Agca was a perfect killer," writes Dziwisz, who was riding in the jeep with the Pope at the time. "He was sent by those who thought the pope was dangerous, inconvenient, by those who feared him ..."

Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement in the assassination attempt.

At the time of the shooting, events in the Pope's Polish homeland were starting a domino effect which was eventually to lead to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989.

The Pope was a staunch supporter of Poland's Solidarity union and most historians agree he played a vital role in events that eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"How could one not have thought of the communist world (being behind the plot) ... you have to take into consideration all the elements of that scenario: the election of a pope hated by the Kremlin, his first trip back to his homeland (as Pope in 1979), the explosion of the Solidarity union (in 1980)," Dziwisz writes.

"Doesn't everything lead in that direction? Don't the paths, even if they are different, lead to the KGB?"

Last year, a report by an Italian parliamentary investigative commission said the leaders of the former Soviet Union were behind the plot and that Agca, a Turk now serving life in prison in his native country, did not act alone.

Dziwisz also describes how doctors who operated on him were convinced he would die under the knife.

In the book, Dziwisz also writes about how the Pope spent a day of personal turmoil when terrorists launched their attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

"The Holy Father was at Castelgangolfo (his summer residence). The phone rang. We heard the shocked voice of (Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo) Sodano. We turned on the TV and watched that dramatic footage, the collapse of the two towers with so many poor victims trapped inside," he wrote.

"He spent the rest of the afternoon between his chapel and the television, dragging all his suffering behind him."

Dziwisz also write about John Paul's failed attempt to stop the war in Iraq by sending envoys to President Bush and the late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

In a chapter called "The Last Hours," he recalls John Paul's final moments of life on April 2, 2005, at the end of a 10-year battle with Parkinson's Disease.

"It was 9:27 p.m. We noticed that the Holy Father stopped breathing ... some people stopped the hands of their watches at that hour."


Here's the BBC's advance story on the book:

Late Pope 'thought of retiring';
also thought USSR was behind Agca



Pope John Paul II seriously thought about resigning due to ill health in 2000, five years before he died, his private secretary has revealed.

Stanislaw Dziwisz said the Pope also contemplated changing Church law so that pontiffs would retire at 80.

Cardinal Dziwisz makes the claims in a book about his four decades serving as the Pope's personal aide, due to be published next month.

Pope John Paul II died in early April 2005, at the age of 84.

There were some suggestions after his death last year that Pope John Paul II had mulled standing down in 2000, but eventually decided that he would remain Pope for as long as God willed it.

But the latest claim comes from one of his closest aides, a Polish priest who worked as his personal secretary for 40 years.

Cardinal Dziwisz's book A Life with Karol - which uses Pope John Paul II's first name in its title - also reveals that the Pope weighed altering the laws of the Roman Catholic Church to enable pontiffs to stand down at 80 rather than serving until death.

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says that the memoirs, written by the man who became the Pope's gatekeeper in his latter years as his health failed him, gives an unusually intimate portrait of the man, revealing fascinating new details of John Paul II's opinions, hopes and fears at various critical times in his long papacy.

The book, to be published in February, says that both the cardinal and the late Pope were convinced that the former Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt on the John Paul II's life.

Cardinal Dziwisz provides no hard evidence as to how they reached this conclusion, but writes that "all roads lead back to the Soviet KGB".

Although Moscow has denied involvement in the assassination attempt, Cardinal Dziwisz says the Pope, a vocal supporter of Poland's Solidarity union, was seen as a threat to Soviet power.

Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca shot the Pope while he was driving through St Peter's Square, with Cardinal Dwziwisz at his side inside the jeep.

"He was sent by those who thought the Pope was dangerous, inconvenient, by those who feared him," Cardinal Dwziwisz writes.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/01/2007 1.52]

23/01/2007 04:49
 
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Rome's mayor backs off plans to rename train station after late pope

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper criticized Rome's mayor for backing off plans to rename the city's main train station after Pope John Paul II.

In late December, Mayor Walter Veltroni joined Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the papal vicar of Rome, for the unveiling of two stone markers dedicating Termini Station to Pope John Paul.

But after complaints from leftist political parties and a threatened sit-in, Veltroni issued a clarification, saying the station would not change its name.

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, cried foul. In an article Jan. 21, it quoted Veltroni's words the day after the pope's death in April 2005. The mayor had proposed to "name Termini Station for John Paul II," it said, as a gesture recognizing the late pontiff as a world traveler.

The Vatican newspaper said Veltroni was now, in effect, "de-naming" the station after complaints that the change would offend some passengers.

The markers inside the station refer to "Termini Station -- John Paul II." But city officials now say the intention was not to rename the facility.

Veltroni first announced the move as a gesture of respect that would "crown the relationship of love between the city and John Paul II."

But political parties on the left called it an imperious decision and derided the mayor -- himself a former communist -- for naming the station after a pope.

After Veltroni announced Termini Station would remain Termini Station, the Italian political federation Rose in the Fist applauded the decision. It said it would now propose changing the name of a smaller train station near the Vatican, St. Peter Station, and dedicating it instead to Ernesto Nathan, Rome's Jewish mayor in the early 20th century.
23/01/2007 09:04
 
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Un contributo.............
[SM=x40800]




[SM=x40800]

Fraternamente CaterinaLD

"Siamo mendicanti e chiediamo agli altri anche le loro idee, come la staffetta della posta che riceve il documento dalle mani di uno e poi corre per darlo ad un altro. Faccio una timida parafrasi delle parole di chi ci ha preceduto nel cammino della fede, per annunciarle ad altri."
(fr. Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa OP
Maestro dell’Ordine)
23/01/2007 23:08
 
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Caterina carissima ....sei un amore. grazie tante per quest'omaggio bellissimo e molto toccante
a Giovanni Paolo II. Siamo tutti riconoscenti da questo tuo lavoro d'amore.
WE ARE ALL GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR YET ANOTHER LABOR OF LOVE!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/01/2007 5.16]

24/01/2007 05:10
 
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Hardly a Vatican prisoner: Late pope made secret outings, says aide

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II made more than 100 clandestine trips to ski or hike in the Italian mountains and was rarely recognized by others on the slopes, his former secretary said.

Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz described the secret outings in a book of memoirs, "A Life With Karol," which was being published in late January. An excerpt appeared Jan. 23 in the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero.

The cardinal, who was Pope John Paul's personal secretary for 38 years, wrote that the pope, an avid skier and hiker in his youth, often felt pent up inside the Vatican.

In the winter of 1981, the pope, his secretary and two of his Polish aides decided to make a "getaway" to the mountains from the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo.

They packed into a car owned by one of the priests, in order not to raise suspicions, and when they passed the Swiss Guard post one prelate opened wide a newspaper to hide the pontiff in the back seat.

Then they drove to the central Italian ski town of Ovindoli without an escort, winding through mountain towns and carefully respecting the speed limits.

Once they arrived, they chose a deserted slope and the pope was able to ski all day long. On the way back, the pope smiled and said, "We did it!" It was the first of many such escapes, the papal secretary said.

In the beginning, no one -- including journalists and other Vatican officials -- knew about the mountain excursions.

And the odd thing was that, for a long time, no one recognized the pope, Cardinal Dziwisz said. He would dress as other skiers, with a ski jacket, beret and sunglasses, taking his place in line at the lifts with the rest.

One of the first people to recognize the pope was a young cross-country skier, a boy no more than 10 years old, who was lagging behind the rest of his family when he came upon the papal party. He asked them if they had seen his family go by, and one of the priests pointed to the trail.

At that moment, the pope arrived at the bottom of the slope.

The boy looked astonished, pointed to the pontiff and began yelling, "The pope! The pope!"

One of the pope's aides intervened quickly: "What are you saying, silly! You'd better think instead about hurrying up, you're going to lose your group."

The boy skied away, and the pope and his friends quickly returned to their car and headed for Rome before the word got out.

[Modificato da benefan 24/01/2007 5.16]

24/01/2007 05:31
 
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Exclusive from Poland: Who Was Spying on Karol Wojtyla

Names, reports, and documents from the network of informants who kept watch over the life of the great churchman, before and after his election as pope. From “L’espresso” no. 3, January 19-25, 2007

by Gigi Riva

“Wojdyla,” that’s how it’s written. In 1949, the future pope was a misspelled name in the reports sent to the secret police by a turncoat priest in the Krakow curia. But they would get to know him very well – and how to spell his name – over the next forty years, until the death of the regime, while his life was bugged, filmed, followed, and analyzed “24/7.” Day and night. Everywhere. In Poland, and in Rome. In the airports, and on the trains. It was an extensive network that involved, in an unbroken relay, dozens and dozens of agents, moles, priests, journalists, intellectuals, blue and white-collar workers, secretaries, administrators. They included acquaintances, neighbors, and even some friends who came with him to Italy.

This was already known, because it couldn’t have been otherwise. But now there is proof of the spider’s web spun around the seminarian, then the priest, then the bishop, then the cardinal, and then the pope, thanks to documents found among the 90 kilometers of papers in the Polish Institute of National Memory. This is the same institute that produced the dossier that forced the resignation, last January 7, of the newly named archbishop of Warsaw, archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus. Wielgus, 67, was forced out under charges of collaborating with the communist authorities. The institute’s documents have also led the Polish Church to dig into the past of all its prelates.

There is an inexplicable gap in the dossiers on Karol Wojtyla, and it concerns the assassination attempt by Ali Agca in 1981. Here there are only a few fragments of little interest. The historian Andrzej Friszke maintains it is likely that “the Polish [secret] services kept clear of it, because it would have been too risky for them.” And if in that forest of documents there isn’t even a detailed account of the event, he recommends that one “seek this out in Moscow.”

His colleague, the historian Andrzej Paczkowski, who has had a seat on the board of the Institute of National Memory for six years, recalls that many documents concerning the Church were deliberately destroyed. But he adds a qualifier: “The archives were merged in 2000. It took us three years just to get everything organized. Scholars have now been working on them for another three. It will take a long time just to read everything.”

There’s no lack of surprises. Many would like to discover the identity of “Seneka,” an agent active in both Krakow and Rome, someone very close to the pope. Was he a philosopher? It is clear that interest was concentrated from the very beginning upon the curious name “Wojtyla.” Now the whole world, and not just Poland, knows how to say the name “Wojtyla.” But back then, just after the war, it was a cipher that could lead to an error, that could be turned to “Wojdyla.” And that’s where our story begins.

Krakow, November 17, 1949. The mole, using the code name “Zagielowski” (but who also used the name “Torano” and in the future would give his real signature), sent the police a “top secret” report on a meeting in the curia during which this “Wojdyla” was pointed out as someone to keep an eye on.

“Zagielowski” was recruited in 1948 and would be active until his death in 1967. His age would remember him by his real name, Wladyslaw Kulczycki. Father Kulczycki. He had been interned in a Nazi concentration camp, and it was for this reason that he was viewed as more approachable: he had seen of what evil man was capable. Besides, he had a sin that compromised his priestly character – a sexual weakness. In 1953 a note from Department IV of the interior ministry, the one charged with watching over the Church, gave this assessment of him: “His evaluation is good. He is the only one working in Krakow who can be approached.” He was the pastor at Saint Nicholas, and was the friend – and perhaps even the confessor - of the legendary cardinal Stefan Wyszynski (in the photo, with Wojtyla). He showed bitter enmity against young Karol from Wadowice. Kulczycki couldn’t explain how he climbed the ecclesiastical ranks so easily. A document written in 1960 contains this outburst: “I don’t understand why Wojtyla is chosen for all the important tasks. The man is well educated, he knows the communists, he has ties among the workers, and he frequently organizes pastoral visits to Nowa Huta.”

The infiltrators didn’t know each other. That’s how things worked, whatever the location. And who knows how many times Fr. Kulczycki met at the chancery with another key pawn for the regime: Tadeusz Nowak, the treasurer for the curia, who was also the administrator of “Tygodnik Powszechny,” the Catholic weekly dear to the future John Paul II.

Nowak was “active” from 1955 to 1982, with a nickname he had chosen himself: “Ares,” the Greek god of war. Those who knew him can’t hide their amazement. What? A spy was hiding behind that festive fellow with the wagging tongue that was prone to joking? Yes, precisely. And not a common spy in terms of his role and contacts. His confidences were collected directly by the official Jozef Schiller, a man whose professionalism would be admirable if it hadn’t been put at the service of an ignoble cause. His recruiting methods were so refined, and the network he built was so effective, that he made for himself a brilliant career in the dark night of totalitarianism. After Krakow, he would become director of the fourth department.

Schiller was the link between Nowak and Ares. And the treasurer of “Tygodnik Powszechny,” composing on typewriter, diligently recounted how much money the curia had, who complained about the taxes imposed by the central government – and how indignantly. Then, in public, he appeared at Wojtyla’s side with the absurd bauble he was authorized to wear after receiving the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, given to him by Paul VI – the highest honorary then bestowed in Poland by the Church of Rome after the second world war.

The ceremony for the conferral of the medal (April 17, 1965) was described in a meticulous note (that also related Nowak’s great emotion) by the agent “Erski” or “Pantera.” This was none other than the distributor of the Catholic newspaper, Waclaw Debski. He had been a radical opponent of communism and had been given a life sentence for this, but was freed after 1956 and the end of Stalinism. He was recruited, and for twenty years he regularly received payment that amounted, at the time, to a salary. This generosity was justified by the quality of the services he rendered: he not only watched the Catholics in the editorial offices, he also used his free access to bug the offices and gave the office keys to his superiors in his second job so that they could carry out secret nighttime searches.

Ares and Erski were the recipients of a “tajne” (secret) document drafted in Krakow on October 9, 1969, probably with the help of a psychologist. Karol Wojtyla had already become a cardinal, and a few months earlier he had challenged the regime by laying the first stone for a church to be built in Nowa Huta. It was very clear how dangerous he was, so everything about him had to be known. The document is made up of two questionnaires (see below) now kept at the Institute of National Memory and classified with the code Kr 08/141, t, l, k. 588-591 e Kr 08/141, t, l, k. 592-594. The spies had to reply to nine pages of questions about Wojtyla’s habits, even the most apparently insignificant ones (Does he wear glasses? Sunglasses? What kind?), and about his personality: Is he analytic, synthetic, objective, subjective, creative? Is he an idealist? Does he love to take risks? For now, the replies to the questionnaires have not been found, but they would be valuable above all for understanding the obsessions of the police. Because of the intimate nature of the information sought, they certainly must have been delivered to close collaborators, even friends. To priests, even.

Michael Jagosz, a canon at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome and head of the historical commission for the cause of beatification for John Paul II, has already tried to dismiss the suspicions circulating around him: “They also tried to get me. I was contacted, but I never gave any information.” This is disproved by the work of historian Marek Lasota, author of the book “Donos na Wojtyle” (The Denunciation of Wojtyla), a tireless researcher on the relationships between the secret services and Catholic circles in Krakow. Lasota affirms, kindly but firmly: “Jagosz was recruited in what I would call a dramatic situation during the 1970’s. He began to collaborate, and then he broke off all ties at the beginning of the ‘80’s, when he went to Rome.” Lasota doesn’t want to explain what the “dramatic situation” was. In general (though not necessarily in this case), the historian Paczkowski points out, there were three “weaknesses” through which priests could be blackmailed: “Sex, money, and alcohol.”

Who knows what convinced Mieczyslaw Malinski, who went to the seminary with the pope and became his friend and first biographer, to become agent “Delta” and to meet frequently with Captain Podolski. Fr. Konrad Hejmo, who organizes trips from Poland to the Vatican, also defends his innocence and admits only that there were attempts to recruit him. But he’s nailed by 20 receipts released by the fourth department of the interior ministry, in addition to a dossier that, according to historian Jan Zaryn, numbers “about 700 pages.” Fr. Hejmo had at least three nicknames: “Hejnal,” “Wolf,” and “Dominican” (he belongs to that order). And he reported to at least as many others. In the middle of the 1970’s, when he was working for the monthly “On the March,” he met with police functionary Waclaw Glowacki. In Rome, he saw both a person nicknamed “Peter,” a functionary at the Polish embassy, and “Lacar,” an agent who worked for both Warsaw and the East Germans.

The scandal that exploded with archbishop Wielgus convinced another priest to resign: Janusz Bielanski, pastor of the cathedral of Wawel and a friend of Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was secretary to John Paul II and is now the cardinal archbishop of Krakow. It was also natural that Dziwisz’s entourage would have been infiltrated. It is estimated that 2,600 priests were collaborating with the communist government by the end of the 1970’s – that’s around 15 percent of the clergy in Poland. The curia of Krakow was truly a crossroads for spies, whether in clerical garb or not.

The deputy for the business manager of “Tygodnik Powszechny,” Nowak, was named Antoni Ocheduszko, codenamed “Orski.” He had been a secret agent in the 1920’s, and was then persecuted during the Stalinist period. He was perfectly cut out for blackmail. He was elderly, suffered from heart problems, and was popular with the young. It seems that he was rather careful never to divulge anything that could harm anyone. He often pretended to be sick in order to avoid meeting with the person sent to interrogate him. When he simply couldn’t avoid it, he talked about what the priests or journalists ate.

“Rumun,” who was Stefan Papp, the technology editor for “Tygodnik Powszechny,” had disgrace written into his name: his father was a German of Hungarian origin who lived in Romania. The cosmopolitan character of his family brought him into suspicion. Furthermore – who knows how? – his “guardian angels” had learned that he wasn’t a believer. So he had two “faults,” and the sense that these were sins to be expiated. But how? By revealing the reactions to certain public news items inside the newspaper offices.

And then there was “Blade,” Jozef Wilga, who had come from the countryside with the desire to become part of the intelligentsia in Krakow. He had failed a minor examination at university, and so he wasn’t able to embark upon the career as a judge that he had dreamed about so much. The shifty, smooth-talking Schiller dangled in front of him the possibility of an intervention with the tribunal so that he could obtain permission to continue his studies. And in exchange, Blade wrote reports on the members of the clubs of Catholic intellectuals, describing their meetings, detailing the personal conflicts, and relating what each one thought about Wladyslaw Gomulka, the party head at the time, and about the party itself.

One of Schiller’s masterpieces was the recruitment of Sabina Kaczmarska, agent “Jesion,” also called “Samotna,” meaning “alone.” She was unmarried and homely, and corrected drafts at the newspaper while dreaming of becoming the editor. Schiller flattered her: Write a report for us on the edition about to be published, a real review; we’re so interested in your opinion, and you’re so very capable. The hapless woman responded. “A report” became a collaboration lasting 12 years. And “Jesion” was used, as one document reveals, in part to influence the foreign reporters who came through Krakow. She is now almost 80, and the dream of being an editor is gone.

Roman Gracyk, author of the book “Tropem SB”, or “On the Trail of the SB” (an acronym for Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa, the secret service), and one of the supporters of the need for “lustracja,” or shedding light on the dossiers, admits that he felt a certain “human pity” in studying certain cases. Here human pity does not mean absolution. Not even now that we know how the story ended, with Wojtyla at St. Peter’s and communism defeated. Because even during those difficult times, it was possible to rebel. This is shown by the many documents in the archives about those who refused to collaborate.

____________


Two questionnaires, 97 questions


Karol Wojtyla was a genuine obsession for the Polish secret services, beginning in the late 1960’s. They wanted to know everything about him: about his opinions, habits, hobbies, state of health, and family. And two documents found in the archives of the Institute of National Memory are particularly chilling.

The first, which is more generic, bears the date of October 9, 1969, and is classified as “secret.” It is signed by “Boguslawski, deputy head of Department IV at Krakow headquarters,” and contains a list of questions that must be answered by the spies following Wojtyla. They include questions about his intellectual capacity, courage, and fidelity to the Church; about his attitude toward the Vatican and the “socialist reality” of Poland. Typical bureaucratic stuff.

But a second document, bearing no date but also concerning Wojtyla, is truly maniacal. It contains 97 questions for the spies shadowing the man who was by then a cardinal.

The first question: “What time does he get up on weekdays and on Sunday?” The second: “What does he do after he gets up, and in what order?” The third: “How often does he shave, and with what implements?” The fourth: “What are the toiletries that he uses?”

This continues in the section “Daily life” with police curiosities such as: “What does he do before starting work?”, “What time does he eat lunch?”, “Does he play bridge, cards, chess?” There’s no lack of questions about alcohol: “What kind?”, “How much?”, “When?” The secret services also wanted to know where Wojtyla kept the keys to his house and office, and who did his laundry.

Another section asks about his “interests in audiovisual media.” They wanted to know what kind of radio Wojtyla had, and whether he also owned a television set. They asked if he went to concerts, if he liked lyric opera. There are questions about the kind of music the future pope liked, what newspapers he read and which sections interested him. There was no lack of curiosity about his habit of listening to Western radio stations, and whether and with whom he “[talked] about politics.”

The health of the future pope certainly did not escape the secret services: they wanted to know, apart from general matters, who was his dentist, whether he wore glasses, and what medicines he kept at home. They also wanted to know if he collected stamps, if he enjoyed taking photographs, and whether he knew how to type. It was important to know how many suitcases Wojtyla had and what kind, and how he dressed for winter and summer sports.

His family was also an object of inquiry: “conflicts, inheritances, material help.” Finally, the police wanted to discover who his “most intimate” friends were, and who were the advisers to Cardinal Wojtyla.

Such a tremendous waste of money, energy, and human resources. Because, in the end, Wojtyla won, and communism lost.
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