Also, this is malignancy; malice and false statements. Events in the Church and in the world after the Jubilee of the Year 2000 may be forgotten. If one rereads the chronicle of those years, it can be said how much John Paul II was present in all events by his strong and courageous word, even if- of course- not with the same energy as in the first years of the pontificate. And, as far as I know, no decision has ever been made that he did not know about it. Yes, it’s true, he suffered a lot. A terrible disease was destroying his body. He couldn’t walk, and in the end he couldn’t speak. But, Pope Wojtyła was always conscious, fully and acutely aware, and to the end led the Church with wisdom, balance and – I repeat – with great courage. As he always did.
Benedict XVI also said this, talking to Andrea Ricardi and recalling his predecessor: “Yes, you can also rule by suffering. It is certainly something extraordinary; but, after a long pontificate and after such an active life of the Pope, a time of suffering was significant and eloquent, becoming almost a kind of ruling, governing.”
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaw BM Publishing House, Krakow 2013
