Vatican. Private chapel of the Holy Father on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace. John Paul II is immersed in prayer. Right next to him his secretaries. I am observing the Pope’s face. Focused. From time to time you can hear a sigh and an unrecognizable whisper. The holy Mass is about to begin. Once it ends, in one of the neighboring rooms there is a meeting with the guests invited to that Mass. An opportunity for one more joint prayer, a brief conversation with the Pope culminating in a blessing. Everyone comes out of this meeting happy – as if they were changed internally, calmer, more joyful. On St. Peter’s Square, I look back to the third floor of the Apostolic Palace. During the pontificates of previous Popes, it was written that “it is easier to get to heaven than to the third floor of the Apostolic Palace!” A radical change occurred with the beginning of the ministry of the Polish Pope. In the opening of the Papacy to the world, in accessing the successor of St. Peter helped his secretaries: Fr. Stanisław Dziwisz, and in the last years of the life of John Paul II also Fr. Mieczysław Mokrzycki.
Secretary of two Popes – conversation with Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki.
Wydawnictwo Literackie Publishing House
 
