Film Reveals John Paul II's Courage, Says Pope

(October 18, 2008) To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II, the Vatican Television Centre has released a five-DVD series that compiles extensive coverage of his life and pontificate, entitled, “The Pope Who Made History." This documentary on the life of Pope John Paul II reveals the simplicity, courage and suffering of the man, who marked the history of the world and the Church, says Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope said this Thursday after attending a screening in Paul VI Hall of "Testimony," a documentary based on the book "A Life with Karol" by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, Poland, and the Italian journalist Gian Franco Svidercoschi. The Pontiff said after watching the film that it "takes our minds back to that late evening of 16 October 1978, 30 years ago today, which has remained engraved in everyone's heart." On that day Cardinal Karol Wojtyla became the first Pole in history to be elected Pope. Pope Benedict XVI said the pontificate of John Paul II began with "Open the doors to Christ! Do not be afraid!" and ended with the words on his deathbed: "Let me go to the house of the Father." "Revealing previously unknown episodes," the German Pontiff continued, "the film shows the human simplicity, the firm courage and, finally, the suffering of John Paul II, which he faced to the end with his inborn hardiness and the patience of a humble servant of the Gospel." The set contains five DVDs, depicting his childhood, his election as Pope on Oct. 16, 1978, his administration years 1988-1995, with extensive attention to the fall of the Berlin Wall, his role as a witness to peace and his final years including the last farewell to the faithful in Rome.