Archbishop Dziwisz now says that everyone misunderstands Pope John Paul’s orders regarding his private papers. The pope’s will as released after his death instructed that his private papers be burned. But the archbishop said after the announcement of his appointed as archbishop of Krakow that he wouldn’t burn any of them because they’re too important for posterity and could aid in his beatification process.
That elicited quite a bit of criticism from some who thought he was disobeying John Paul’s expressed wishes and others who believed that keeping around the half-formed thoughts and musings of a former pontiff was dangerous because they could fall into the hands of those who might use them to try to advance an agenda. Diogenes explicates this point of view well.
But now Dziwisz says that whatever the text of the will says, “the Holy Father gave me an absolutely free hand in the matter.” He also said: “It is my responsibility what to keep. And I absolutely don’t see that anything should be burned, destroyed. I think this belongs to the Church, to the society and to the general culture.” So there you have it.
Evidently Pope Benedict agrees with him and doesn’t think that’s out of order.
By “the Holy Father,” and the “free hand” Don Stanislaw seems not to refer to John Paul II, but to Benedict XVI.
What’s to fear by having these released? It’s good news for a full and complete history of the last pontificate.
Were the media accounts of the late Pontiff’s will another “translation error”—what part of “burn my private papers” is unclear?
It’s not a question of “fear”, it’s a question of mischief: the papers will be poured through looking for errors, ambiguities, and be used as a tool to undermine his public and offical writings.
Rocco, you’re not a Sean Hannity listener, are you? “full and complete” is one of his favorite expressions.
As I wrote earlier, if Dziwisz felt so strongly about this, he could have discussed this with the Holy Father and his will could have been amended. Disobedience to the the will of Pope John Paul II is disobedience nonetheless.
I trust the judgment of Pope John Paul II in this regard.
“I trust the judgment of Pope John Paul II in this regard.”
So do I. I also trust the person he trusted. None of us know the whole story. We only know the reports of a final testament. Is that the whole story concerning JP2’s wishes? Are the laws concerning wills and probate in Vatican City similar to ours?
I don’t know. Neither does Sean Hannity. Or his listeners.
THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT JPII AND ARCHBISHOP STANISLAW HAD A PRIVATE DISCUSION ON THIS.
THE WORDING OF THE WILL GIVES HIM COMPLETE DISCRETION. THERE WILL BE NO TROUBLE FROM PETTIFOGGING VATICAN BUREAUCRATS OR ANY BODY ELSE.
JPII OBVIOUSLY HAD GREAT TRUST IN HIS FRIEND. I SEE NO REASON NOT TO TRUST ARCHBISHOP DZIWISZ AND HIS INTREPRETATION OF JPII’S WISHES.
Thank you for your comment, but for the sake of everyone’s eyes please don’t type in ALL CAPS. It makes it hard to read.