There was one person with whom he could count on in his daily activities, whose advice he often accepted, who was the closest to him all these years, until the last moment – Father Stanisław Dziwisz. Sometimes he himself, out of concern for the Pope, wanting to spare him, tried to shorten certain meetings, and the Pope constantly put on his own. He loved the sick and suffering, he loved children and young people, he loved families, he really loved the entire Church made up of countless crowds of the faithful.
It was beautiful when, in recent years, when he lacked physical strength, he took in his hand the cane that he usually supported himself, and gesticulated it, turned it up, began to turn it, sometimes leaning his other hand against something else to express his joy, his satisfaction, his emotions.
He had a look that pierced me through. And, I saw him every day, greeted him and said goodbye every time I brought him home. For me, the gaze of his hazy, delicately blue eyes was the embodiment of God’s own gaze. He always had an amazing inner light that was reflected in his gaze.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Page: 250
