Vatican City, Apr 30, 2011 / 16:35 pm
He’s now the head of the most powerful department at the Vatican but the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, was just a young priest when John Paul II was elected Pope.
“I have to confess that I had really never heard of him before. I wasn't following the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the world. And, I remember standing in the piazza in the evening that the white smoke went up, and that we waited for the curtains to open and for the announcement to be made.”
As he stood waiting along with the rest of the world, Father Levada spoke with Monsignor Albert Bovone – who later became Cardinal Bovone, Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
“So, I went over and we had a chat while we were waiting for the announcement. And when the announcement was made, well, I didn't recognize the name. So, I asked him who it was, what was the name? And he said, ‘Wojtyla.’ And I said, ‘who's that?’ He said, ‘a Polish fellow’.”