– Once during a dinner John Paul II said: “Mieciu! If they will ask what you are doing with the Pope, tell them that you are pulling him out from under the table!”
– “Puling out from under the table”?! Are you joking, priest?
– No, it was the Holy Father who joked at the end of his pontificate when he was already moving in a wheelchair. Together with Fr. Dziwisz we were taking the Holy Father on the wheelchair into the dining room, and after the meal we helped the Pope and took him to his bedroom. During this most difficult period, when he could not walk and had difficulty speaking, he tried to be cheerful and joked that we would smile. I think, he wanted us not to be so depressed by his health.
Of course, the secretary’s duties included, above all, being always available and helping the Holy Father when he needed help. My task was to accompany the Pope during the audiences, meetings, sometimes introducing guests; also preparing documents, writing off on some letters, indicated by the Pope. Being the secretary, it meant to be busy from morning to evening. I remember one of my colleagues came from Poland. We haven’t seen each other in years. He really wanted to meet, talk. And, I was unfortunately busy from the morning until 11p.m.
Every day was precisely planned. Everything was carefully arranged and the Holy Father was adhered to the plan. This was supposedly the case in his youth as well. Once, for a dinner Jerzy Kluger came – the Pope’s colleague from the school in Wadowice. He recalled that when Karol Wojtyła played football, at one point he looked at his watch. Then, he was saying: “I’m going home because I have to do my homework!” He knew how long and on what task he can devote his time, then in Wadowice, and later in the Vatican.
Secretary of two Popes – conversation with Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki.
Wydawnictwo Literackie Publishing House
