Against the late pope's last will and testament, John Paul II's secretary has gone ahead and decided to publish his personal notes. Now, people are divided between praise and condemnation for his actions, the Associated Press reported.
Putting his trusted confidant, the Rev. Stanislaw Dziwisz, in charge of the task, John Paul had ordered the notes to be burned after his death.
However, Dziwisz, now a cardinal, said recently that he "did not have the courage" to destroy the notes and is having them published as a precious insight into the inner life of the beloved pontiff, who will be declared a saint in April, the AP reported.
The criticism for the release of the book, "Very Much in God's Hands. Personal Notes 1962-2003," has outpaced the praise.
"I don't think it is right for a church member to go against the will and authority of the pope, whatever the reason," Ewelina Gniewnik said as she was leaving Savior's Church in downtown Warsaw. "I'm not sure that Cardinal Dziwisz knows what he is doing."
Containing religious meditations that Karol Wojtyla recorded between July 1962 and March 2003, the polish-language book releases on Wednesday. The book spans a period in which Paul went from being a bishop in Poland to a globe-trotting superstar pope, according to the AP.
While the book is planned to be published in English and other languages, no details have been fixed yet.
"The decision to publish does not go against papal infallibility, which contrary to popular belief applies only to matters of church doctrine," the AP reported, "Still some are expressing shock that a trusted aide would disobey the orders of the pope, especially on a matter as sacred as a will - with the Internet flooded with angry comments against Dziwisz."
The AP added, "The book itself may be a tough slog for ordinary readers. It runs 640 pages and basically consists of deeply religious, compact, sometimes arcane ideas or trains of thought that spring from citations from the Bible. Priests, theologians and philosophers will be inspired - the layperson will find it opaque."
However, one cryptic remark about sinful priests, registered in March 1981, perhaps gains new significance under the flood of pedophilia cases against Roman Catholic clergy.
"The social aspect of sin," wrote John Paul, "it hurts the Church as a community. Especially a sin by a priest."
Dziwisz, John Paul's personal secretary and closest aide for almost 40 years in Poland and at the Vatican, said he was prepared for accusations of betrayal, the AP reported.
He was made Archbishop of Krakow after John Paul's death in 2005 at age 84. The book's proceeds will go to a memorial in southern Poland where Dziwisz is building a museum memorial for the Polish pope.
"I had no doubt," he said recently. "These notes are so important, they say so much about the spiritual side, about the person, about the great pope, that it would have been a crime to destroy them." He noted the despair of historians after Pope Pius XII's letters were burnt.
Respected church commentator, the Rev. Adam Boniecki, wrote in a Polish Catholic weekly that he was at first "surprised in an unpleasant way" by Dziwisz's decision, but after reading the book "I am grateful to him for having taken the risk of following his own conscience and not being a meticulous formalist," the AP reported.
Some ordinary worshippers were also supportive.
"The teaching and prayers of our pope are most precious to us and we should study them with attention," said Maria Welgo. "We should be thankful that Cardinal Dziwisz left these notes for us."
Lawyers in Poland are not sure whether Dziwisz broke the law by disobeying the will - which explicitly said: "Burn my personal notes."
The Rev. Jan Machniak, who wrote the preface, told the AP that the book is intended for readers who need to bring order into their life, or need guidance in their own spiritual growth.
