In the celebration on the St. Peter's Square (October 22, 1978), among others, there was the Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Italy and the President of the Polish State Council, Henryk Jabłoński, sat next to him. At one point, the diplomat turned to his neighbor and hissed in a dismissive tone: "The greatest success of the Polish People's Republic was to give the Pope to the world." He was referring to the Pope who came from the East, the Pope, who knew the communist system well and knew how to face it. Therefore, it was necessary to start thinking about how to neutralize his actions. Perhaps the ambassador did not understand that for John Paul II the words "Do not be afraid" were not the fruit of any ideology or political strategy, but of following the Gospel, the imitation of Christ. That was his strength! With these words on his lips, he set out to conquer the world to transform its face.
Karol Wojtyła's words began to come into force shortly after the end of the solemn ceremony. He grabbed the crosier like a banner and walked down to the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica, as if he wanted to meet the entire world, as if he wanted to shake it and awaken it from lethargy, from resignation, from fears and false myths, from the illusion that one could do without God.
With the consent of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz - "Testimony".
TBA marketing communication Publishing House. Warsaw 2007
