What we can do now, is to return to the scenario that was ongoing in 1981. At that time, a whole series of dramatic events in Papal reality took place: Cardinal Wyszyński died and the existence of a work union was increasingly perceived as an attack on the communist system. And, it was this; we can say “coincidence” that makes us accept the thesis, that there was a desire to eliminate the one who from the Vatican protected “Solidarity”.
The Pope survived, but the fate of “Solidarity” was already decided. On the night of December 12-13, 1981 martial law was introduced in Poland. Thousands of people were arrested. The work union was suspended, literally crushed. The whole nation has been deprived of fundamental rights; was deprived of their liberty.
The Holy Father has not been pre-warned. He learned about it from his secretaries and then from the Secretariat of State, also because at that time all connections with Poland and therefore with the Episcopate were ceased. The message shocked him. Already during the Angelus prayer, he expressed his deep pain due to the tragedy that took place in his Homeland. He protested with all his strength. He prayed. He wrote a hard letter to Jaruzelski when the miners from the “Wujek” mine were killed. Meantime, the solidarity work was magnifying and reaching Poland via thousands of channels and sustained the flame of hope.
Although it has been many years since then, the accusations against the Pope are recurring. That he financially supported “Solidarity”, that he sent money to Poland via the Vatican IOR…
It’s all scams! It’s false! John Paul II morally supported “Solidarity”, but that was it. He never sent anything to Poland, the more secretly. If he helped, in other situations, he did it officially. For example, he financially supported bishops coming with the “ad limina” visit, especially those from the Third World, from poor countries, or from places where the Church was persecuted. I’m convinced about that, as it was me who usually presented this kind of need to the Secretariat of State, where the sums of the aid were later established. All this has always been clear and transparent. The same was true with the Holy Father interest in Poland and “Solidarity”.
At the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaus BM Publisher, Kraków 2013
