John Paul II: shaped by suffering

As preparations are underway for the beatification of John Paul II, sheduled for May 1st, we step back in time and listen to some of those who personally knew him. All of whom in a series of interviews with Veronica Scarisbrick echo this Polish Pontiff's words on one occasion : ..."Sometimes we may wish for a kind of life that is easier than the one we have but in the Providence of God a different life does not mean a less important life "...


Among those Veronica spoke to was one of the cardinals who took part in the conclave to elect Karol Wojtyla . He's American William Wakefield Baum who cherishes memories of time spent with the then Cardinal Wojtyla in Poland only months before he was elected pope, witnessing first hand his defence of the working man: " He preached this magnificent stirring homily delivered with great passion ..it was a speech that was meant to put steel into the minds and hearts of these working Polish men ..that day there were at least 300.000 of them present for this great Mass in a field...Cardinal Wojtyla of Kracow was one of the most prominent cardinals in the world and much admired..and looked up to I’d say by his brother cardinals..."



Other personal testimonies you can hear in this feature are those of a childhood friend,a Polish countess and a one time personal friend who recounts how in his opinion what made John Paul II, so much the Pope of the third millennium, was his experience of suffering, the fact that he was touched so personally by the era in which he lived:.."many of his close friends at school were tortured , deported to Siberia or interned in concentratiion camps. It was this indirect experience of Auschwitz ...that inspired him to want to save others from suffering, to defend the rights of the human person"..


Listen to this programme produced by Veronica Scarisbrick :