"I saw that was holy for its humor" Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who accompanied John Paul II for over 20 years, said his great humanity .. Along with Don
Stanislaus Dziwisz, his private secretary, now cardinal of Krakow and the Polish nuns who were to serve until his last breath, no one took so long, shared secrets, silence and words of John Paul II as he was.
Joaquín Navarro Valls, his spokesman for more than 20 years, said in an interview with The Nation stories about the pope, a person which he said I looked like I was a saint, especially for his good humor. Psychiatrist and journalist of 74 years, a member of Opus Dei, Navarro Valls was one of the more than 100 witnesses who testified in the process of beatification of Karol Wojtyla, who was raised yesterday in honor of the altars.
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During the time he worked with John Paul II, did the feeling of being in a saint? - [Silence
and laughs.] These days, everybody says: "The Church does
John Paul II saint ", and I'm not at all agree. Because a person is holy while living or never will be. Not that the Church now makes John Paul II a saint, but certifies that his life was holy, and that he saw. Longer would say what he saw. For me (perhaps
is a very subjective ), he looked especially good humor, despite everything. At 80, when you have all the weight you carry, disease, a whole series of things, continue to have good humor does not come from a character trait. To me, it was one of the definitive traits of his holiness, that positive way of looking at things, completely ignoring their own affairs and living for its mission to the people. That was where I saw it more.
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Was there a specific moment in which he fell account that the person was holy? I do not know if there was a first time. But he was continuously. I remember one small detail: all the operations he had in his life, the lightest of all was a fall with a small fracture of the humerus. When I entered his hospital room shortly after the reduction of the fracture, he looked at me and said, "You see
: you must complete what is lacking in the Passion of Christ " and then said: "
Well is not missing anything, you're all done, but ... "[laughs
]. Finally, the positive spirit in even the most minute things. Not know, I would call "the holy
mankind," mankind
"not in the sense of" all ", but it was all entered fully human with a positive sense.
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A very personal question: Do you pray? Well [
silence] ... I try to keep in touch with him. Previously, depending on the topic of work each day we were 2 or 3 hours, depends. On long trips, which were more hours we were together. Now I have the feeling that I have won: they are 24 hours a day ... In this I know I'm not original because they just go 6 years after his death at San Pedro and the queue of people his tomb. Now, one thing that people imagine is to pray for a believer is an obligation or merely a conviction. I have to pray, pray. To him it was a necessity: I could not stop. Now, what was praying this man? Of course, very often, when I went to the apartment, he saw in his small chapel for hours, with pieces of paper in his hand, passed one, then another, then another. What was he doing? I dared not ask him, but he asked his secretary came to him letters from around the world total strangers, in all languages. They were like "Rece because I am a mother of 4 children and I have been diagnosed with cancer very serious" or "Pray for my son, who takes drugs." In short, all the miseries of the world imaginable came to him. He spent hours with it in hand!
- His greatest strength and greatest weakness? "An idea I had always: sometimes, people try to be better, one gets the distinct impression that the Christian virtues are mad, some as opposed to others. And the person who is thinking straight at times seems more intransigent. And at the opposite pole, man or woman that is comprehensive in character, it reaches a sort of indifference, confuses the whole matter be merciful not care. It did not occur this madness virtues. For example, a concrete thing that has helped me a lot: he was a man who does not waste a minute and at the same time, never hurry.
- And the weakness? - How [
front to] a person who loves a lot of people around you not take advantage of some of that goodness? It was difficult because their decisions were made with a sense of quality and understanding and to justify the person, always considering the best of that person.
-Speaking of which, in the process of beatification, some people think it was too fast, especially since it was discussed in depth the issue of sexual abuse by priests and the Maciel case [ Marcial, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ ]. "It's a long, but I'll try to summarize. There, in those years, a letter from Maciel, which he swore to God that all that was said was false and was not going to defend himself, taking him as a cross. However, the canonical procedure against Maciel began during the pontificate of John Paul II.
"But many claim that was covered up by colleagues of John Paul II .. "What is definitive in the Maciel case is the chronology of the dates.
- There were moments of difficulty in communication among you? -No. One thing that always helped me professionally, but also human impression is that he had everything: audience with characters in the world, heads of state, whatever. Or personal items. Never, not once in 20 years, never heard me say: "
But this I say to you Keep it." In other words, is impressive, but he was wary of professionalism. He was a man from that point of view had a lay mentality.
- Pick up the phone and call him anytime? "Always, always.
- Do you remember when was the last time he spoke with him? I do not remember when was the last time of course, was in the final period, probably days before his death. If you mean my leave of him, no: he was speechless and in addition, there was no need for words. He was well aware, we locked eyes, suffering, because it was painful end. I kissed his hand, I remember it was very cold hand, because in those last days was with a very low blood pressure, but I had no desire to say anything. Because ... What would you say or what I expected him to tell me? Twenties were working day and night, traveling together, resting together on the mountain. Any word would have been insufficient [
excited ]. I remember that moment, yes ..
Source: Diario La Nación.
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