Catholic Review of: A Life with Karol

As the months and years pass after the deaths of great men and women, it is notable that the world’s interest in their lives does not wane, but rather increases. This is certainly true of Karol Wojtyla, known to the world for more than a quarter of a century as Pope John Paul II.

Recently added to the ever-growing collection of tributes to this great man are two books from a particularly personal source. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who lived with and served Karol Wojtyla for nearly 40 years as a private secretary, is the principal author of Let Me Go to the Father’s House: John Paul II’s Strength in Weakness and A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope. Both books paint an intimate picture of a man who was publicly known and loved (and sometimes even feared) by the world not only because of his bold proclamation and intense living of the Gospels, but also because of the personal experiences and sufferings that shaped his intimate prayer life.

Let Me Go to the Father’s House looks at the life and ministry of Pope John Paul II, marked "by the stigma of suffering that he transformed into an instrument of apostolate," from the perspectives of three men who knew Wojtyla well. The first section, "Suffering in the Life and Teaching of John Paul II," is written by Cardinal Dziwisz in collaboration with Fr. Czeslaw Drazek, S.J., editor of L’Osservatore Romano’s Polish edition. Dziwisz and Drazek lead a brief journey in the shadow of the cross carried by Karol Wojtyla from his childhood through the end of his Petrine ministry, showing how Wojtyla’s union with the Paschal Mystery in his own life influenced his deep love for the sick and suffering.

The next section, "The Days of Suffering and Hope," is by Renato Buzzonetti, personal physician to Pope John Paul II. While Buzzonetti’s account is precise in particular details of time, place, and medical information, his writing is far from a cold clinical account of the Pope’s various sufferings. In fact, this second section is in some ways the most touching, as the simplicity of the facts speaks volumes. Buzzonetti’s writings make it clear that John Paul II’s "profound interior serenity . . . led him to accept illness, pain, and forced inactivity from the hands of God." Particularly poignant is the pontiff’s response to the news of his upcoming tracheotomy, in what turned out to be the last months of his life. After informing John Paul II of the surgery, Buzzonetti says that "the patient gave his consent, but not without asking with disarming simplicity whether it were possible to wait until after his summer vacation." After waking from anesthesia following the surgery, he asked for a paper, on which he wrote with an unsteady hand in Polish, "See what they have done to me! But . . . totus tuus!"

The book’s final section, "Sainthood Now!" is written by Angelo Comastri, President of the Office for the Infrastructure of St. Peter’s and Vicar General of Vatican City under John Paul II. He shares excerpts from a number of moving letters from people worldwide asking for the Pope’s canonization, as well as some of the notes and prayers left on John Paul II’s tomb. Comastri also shares a personal account of his final moments with the pontiff, and of those who came to pay their last respects to John Paul II at his funeral. He tells of one young man who, after showing Comastri his arms scarred by drug injections, humbly asked the Vicar General to kiss the Holy Father’s feet for him as his sign of thanks. After Comastri reflects on some primary themes of the pontiff’s sanctity, the book concludes with a special tribute to the late Pope’s great Marian devotion.

In A Life with Karol, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz shares his memories and insights into the life of Karol Wojtyla, whom he knew for almost 50 years. The Cardinal writes in conversation with Gian Franco Svidercoschi, and this conversational format lends itself well to the journey they take through Wojtyla’s life as priest, bishop, and pope.

Dziwisz first knew Fr. Wojtyla when he studied moral theology under him in seminary, then was ordained by Bishop Wojtyla, and three years later was given an invitation that would change his life forever. Bishop Wojtyla told Fr. Dziwisz, "‘I’d like you to come live here. You can continue your studies and give me a hand.’ ‘When?’ I asked. ‘Today will work.’"

Dziwisz spent the rest of his life with Wojtyla, serving as a personal secretary, friend, and confidant throughout the remainder of his episcopacy and his entire papacy. From his schedule of daily life to his extensive international travel, from his involvement in world politics to his ministry to the people of Rome, from his papal skiing trips to his visits with the youth, elderly, sick, and suffering, Karol Wojtyla is shown, through the memories of Dziwisz, to be a man of unwavering faith who, though completely human, always turned to the Lord and to the September/October 2008 61 40 years with the Church Blessed Mother to elevate all of his human acts to a supernatural plane for the glory of God and the good of His people.

While these books are well written, the subject matter and the personal perspectives make them particularly compelling. These authors were not only true friends of Karol Wojtyla, but also friends of God, writing about a man of profound faith from a perspective of faith. Both books give readers not only a deeper look into the life and ministry of Pope John Paul II, but also a look into their own spiritual lives, serving as points of reflection and inspiration.

- Leslie A. Amoratis  (from Lay Witness magazine. www.cuf.org)

You can purchase this title here.