Almost always trips were organized on Tuesdays. It was the only free day of the week in the Papal calendar. For obvious reasons, weekends – Saturday and especially Sunday – were a time of intense meetings with the faithful, Holy Masses, vigils, audiences and prayers. That is why it fell on Tuesday – a day of break before the intense Wednesday, when the General Audience has always been held.
– Most often, the car of one of the fellow gendarmes set off on the road before dawn, already about half past five was on the way to clear the trails, check the entire passage, so that there was no landslide after rainfall or fallen trees after the storm. We had telephone or radio contact using a walkie-talkie. When we set off in the morning with the Pope from the Vatican, we were in contact with colleagues on the route. If everything was OK, we would go to the chosen destination, but if there was an obstacle, we would change our plans.
By design, it was an “off” day; a day of re-set and peace. The Pope wandered alone, Father Dziwisz walked behind him, and we a little in front of him and a few meters behind him. A subtle, unobtrusive guard. We hiked for a few hours. In this journey, the entire group was overtaken by one of us, for example Massimo Illuminati or Egildo Biocca, who after reaching a given place quickly set up a tent and put a small field bed in it. In this way, the Holy Father could take a nap after the journey or just rest. Especially in last years, we have been better and better armed with equipment, because the Pope needed more rest. We were carrying a larger tent, designed for high mountains, insulated. Sometimes on the trail we met other hikers, ordinary tourists: young, old, families with children, a couple of fiancées, local highlanders or shepherds returning from the ridge. The Pope willingly exchanged a few words with these people, asked where they were coming from, what they were doing, and we moved on.
Magdalena Wolińska-Riedi “It happened in the Vatican”
Znak Publishing House. Kraków 2020
Pages: 174 – 175
