The next day (June 22, 1983) two million faithful came to Kraków for the beatification ceremony of two great Poles: Father Rafał Kalinowski, Barefoot Carmelite and Brother Albert Chmielowski, the apostle of the poorest, founder of Albertine Brothers and Albertine Sisters. At the end of the Mass, while the crowd started to slowly leave the area, the flags of “Solidarity” appeared. Helicopters flew in; however, they were wrong, thinking that lowering the flight ceiling would intimidate people and get them home. Everything took place in peace and order, exactly as the Holy Father wanted it, making it impossible to organize provocations. Meanwhile, the authorities panicked. In the afternoon, unexpectedly the Second Meeting of the Holy Father with General Jaruzelski took place in Wawel, initiated by the government side and not by the Church, as they attempted to indicate. It was intended to calm the mood, to soften the importance of the event planned for the next day, and besides, Jaruzelski wanted to present to the Pope the motives of his action, which could explain the exceptionally long duration of the conversation- an hour and a half.
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “Testimony”.
TBA Publishing House. Warsaw 2007
