In these trips we were always accompanied by Angelo Gugel, the Papal butler. He was leaving his apartment in the Apostolic Palace with the Pope, but as soon as we left the Vatican, he was going to a car in the back, in which Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, the Pope’s personal physician, and (especially later) the resuscitator physician, were also sitting. In the first years, we were escorted by two more cars from the Italian Police Inspectorate at the Vatican: one in front, the other in the rear; all the officers were absolutely incognito. These cars were needed in case something broke in our car.
Today, years later, however, I have to admit something. I will say this for the first time… Many times we left the Vatican really alone, only we in our two cars, without even informing the Italian police. We were then without any escort. Theoretically, we needed the police to clear the path at critical points, for example at the entrance to the highway, where someone might want to stop us. However, we also managed without it. I remember once it happened that at the exit from the highway the patrol stopped us for inspection. At first, confused, I didn’t know what to do. The Pope sat in the front seat, but was not dressed in a white cassock. At first the police did not notice him, but they sensed my consternation. They glanced at the passenger next to them. The news in the area has already spread that sometimes John Paul II leaves the house for mountain trips. When they saw the Holy Father sitting next to me, they were speechless, and then they saluted us and let us go.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
pages: 157 – 158
