Pope John Paul’s secretary reveals he didn’t burn unpublished writings

Warsaw, Poland, Jun 5, 2005 / 22:00 pm

During an interview with Polish state radio, Pope John Paul II's longtime private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, revealed he has preserved the late pontiff's personal notes instead of burning them, as his will demanded.

Archbishop Dziwisz, who worked with the Pope from 1966 until his death in April, was appointed last Friday as the new Archbishop of Krakow, Poland’s second largest diocese.

“Nothing has been burned.  Nothing is fit for burning, everything should be preserved and kept for history, for the future generations - every single sentence,” said Dziwisz during Saturday's radio interview.

“These are great riches that should gradually be made available to the public,” he added.

The Archbishop-elect also suggested that some of the notes could prove useful in the late pontiff's beatification process, especially after Pope Benedict XVI lifted the five-year waiting period to start the process.

Dziwisz said he took his own daily notes throughout John Paul's papacy, but didn’t say if he would publish them.

Like Pope John Paul, Pope Paul VI requested in his will that his personal unpublished writings be burnt. His personal secretary, Msgr. Pasquale Macchi, who later became the Archbishop of Loretto (Italy,) accomplished his will.