There in the mountains, in the Aosta Valley, we also ourselves organized the Papal rest, although we had the support of the local forest guards and the local population. The two of us – me and one of my fellow gendarmes – had already flown a month earlier to determine everything, to decide what hiking routes would be possible to travel in a given year. We drew up plans, and after returning we took them immediately to Father Dziwisz and we examined them together. Then, on the spot, we reacted accordingly to the given situation. We proposed one of the prepared routes to the Holy Father. In fact, in the morning, before we set off, from all people out of our larger group, only I as a driver knew where we were going. No one was informed about these trips, but not because we wanted to keep the Pope hidden from the people. Rather, it was a matter of preventing numerous journalists, regional security services, and law enforcement services from gathering. To give the Pope these two or three hours of true respite. And, when we were returning, we passed some tourists on a narrow road by car, the Holy Father asked us to stop, and again he was happy to talk, bless, give the rosary.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
pages: 178 – 179
