After the first hours of the huge surprise the communist leaders began to embrace the growing anxiety. Three weeks have not yet passed since the election of the Pope, and a secret report was prepared at the request of the Secretariat of the CPSU on the risk of destabilization, which will surely entail for the Soviet Union the election of a man such as Karol Wojtyła.
And so, at the initiative of the KGB, began the first operations, if not disturbing then at least aimed at “controlling” John Paul II. Various diplomats working at the Polish Embassy in Italy were emissaries of the Security Service – the secret Polish police, or at least cooperated with it.
Having already the experience gained in Krakow, as well as with information from proven sources, the Holy Father was aware of the actions taken by the communist authorities and the maneuvers of their secret services. But he was not afraid. Fidelity to truth, the realization that he was fighting for the right cause, the transparency of his life and activities– all this made him calm and in good spirit. Even if he knew that it would not be an easy venture to return to Poland. And, if he decided to travel to Mexico to respond to the invitation and make the first gesture of solidarity against the nations of the Third World, he went there in the hope that after the door opened to him by the anti-clerical government; his country’s communist government would not be able to say “no”.
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaw BM Publishing House, Krakow 2013
