This terrace on the roof of the Apostolic Palace – wonderful, towering over the surrounding area, although from below, from the perspective of St. Peter’s Square, completely invisible, embedded in the geometric shape of the Papal residence – was one of the last places that John Paul II visited before his death. It has always been his small, intimate oasis of peace and quiet. Here the Pope wanted to return at the end of his earthly journey to look again at Rome. To the horizon…
It was early in the morning. The Holy Father pulled me and in a weak voice said me into my ear that he would like to go upstairs. So, I took him in my arms, moved him from bed to wheelchair, took him to the elevator and we went.
The moment that followed was probably the most special in my life – apart from the moment my children were born. I felt like I was in another dimension. And, it wasn’t just a spiritual experience. The Pope, even though he was really at the end of his life, still talked to me that morning, asked me full of interest about my home, about my family, stroked my hand. To witness his immense physical suffering, his debilitating illness, there on the terrace, when he looked at the world from above with his eyes closed, was something amazing.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Pages: 259 – 260
