This, that Karol Wojtyła will be a different Pope, as he was carrying inside the legacy of a granite faith and history often very tragic, we realized even more from his homily, which he delivered on the day of the inauguration of his pontificate at St. Peter’s Square. “Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” This call has become a motto – even better – the principle that inspired his teaching, his authority, his universal mission. John Paul II wanted to be a witness to the man; each man as the image of his/her Creator, thus a man that has inalienable, inviolable rights, stating with the right to live. (…) At the same time, Pope Wojtyła wanted to be a witness of hope. A hope that is alive, real hope for humanity that is threatened, divided, that is experiencing a huge injustice and feels continuous nightmare of possible nuclear war. At the same time, he wanted to be a witness of hope for the Church, which was closing itself, in its own internal problems. The Church which was divided by the post-conciliar contrasts and tensions, instead of the Church involved in the preaching of the Gospel in society, in contemporary culture – so, it could counter the tide of secularism and gradual marginalization of Christianity. Speaking the truth, in those years, only he, John Paul II, was convinced that the process of secularization has reached the limits in the most severe and dangerous form, thus there was a possibility – and a space – for another proposal of faith. Similarly, the Pope saw how inconstant, as they were built on sand, were some claims which previously were considered as indisputable. They dominated politics and culture, but also they existed in some Church’s areas.
With the consent of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At a side of the Saint man”
