I remember very well his last return to the Homeland in 2002. I had a privilege to accompany him. It was not an ordinary pilgrimage. The Pope was already very sick. It was his farewell with homeland, with his compatriots.
I was in the escort right next to his car when we were passing the center of Krakow. Emotions for all of us were leaving us speechless. We were stopping for a moment at each place which was associated with special memories. He was looking at them with nostalgia, it give him a chance to recall the time which passed, to bring back in memory the things which happened there. Everywhere there was countless number of people. At the end, we went to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska; to the monastery which he carried so deep in his heart. From there, he was taken by a helicopter in the direction of Wadowice. He was seeing his home town from the sky; they made a circle above the town. Then, he returned to Krakow and we departed by plan to Rome. It was an extremely emotional pilgrimage. Also, he was very touched by it and certainly it left a deep mark in him.
And, being by his side I was seeing how difficult it was for him to part with his homeland, how difficult the moment of farewell and departure was. Each time he was returning to Poland with an extraordinary joy. Ahead he was planning his pilgrimages to Poland. For him it was like charging of all batteries. And this time he knew it was for the last time… So that is the reason why it was so difficult for him to leave.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
pages: 115 – 116
