I remember the inaugural Holy Mass of his pontificate on the St. Peter’s Square. I stood below the steps, on the right, in the so-called St. Peter’s sector, looking at the basilica. I was at work. After the solemn celebration, according to the protocol, the newly elected Pope was to give a blessing, and the master of ceremonies led him by the hand to the interior of the basilica to return to the palace from there. At that time, this function was performed by Monsignor Virgilio Noè. He wanted to do as in the case of John Paul I a month and a half earlier, that is, to take the Pope firmly under his elbow to show him where to go. He approached John Paul II and tried to support him. I was literally a few meters below the altar and I could see everything exactly. The Pope firmly and decidedly pushed back the hand of the Master of Ceremonies, and he himself vigorously, maintaining a long chasuble, went down the stairs. He approached various people one by one, the sick, all those who stood there below the altar. He touched their hands, blessed them, waved at them, and only then returned to the basilica.
John Paul II needed the closeness of other people like air. He was not only a Pope, but above all he remained an ordinary pastor. Just like before, when he was an archbishop in distant and unknown to us, at that time, Krakow.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Pages: 34 – 35
