From the Tomb of Stanislaus to the Tomb of Peter: A Preface

From the Tomb of Stanislaus to the Tomb of Peter: A Preface I want to describe die Church, my Church, which bound itself to my land (this was said: "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven"), dius to my land my Church is bound. The land lies in die Vistula basin, the tributaries swell in spring when the snows thaw in die Carpathians. The Church bound itself to my land so that all it binds here should be bound in heaven. —John Paul II, "Stanislaus" The word, before it is ever spoken on the stage, is already present in human history as a fundamental dimension of man's spiritual experience . Ultimately, the mystery of language brings us back to the inscrutable mystery of God himself. As I came to appreciate the power of the word in my literary and linguistic studies, I inevitably drew closer to the mystery of the Word—that Word of which we speak Logos 1:2 1997 From the Tomb of Stanislaus to the Tomb of Peter every day in the Angelus: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). —John Paul II, Mystery and Gift Of the thousands of photographs and images that abound of John Paul II both before and after his election to the papacy, three are especially poignant. Each tells a different story, reveals a different dimension of the man. But each shares a common dramatic theme of solicitude. Two are quite well known (they have been reprinted or re-telecast often enough that even the most casual follower of this papacy will recognize them); the third is lesser known. The first image captures John Paul II in a dramatic moment of reconciliation with his would-be assassin Ali Agca in Rebibbia Prison on 27 December 1983. Some photographs of the event show the Pope and Agca seated and huddled in intimate conversation . The photograph reprinted in His Holiness:John Paul II and the Hidden History ofOur Time—the one to which I am primarily referring —shows the two standing; Agca has placed his head in the Pope's right hand and the Pope's left rests onAgca's back in a drawing -in gesture.1 As G. H.Williams observes, The published photograph of the confidential exchange between the Christian victim-priest and the repentant Muslim assassin-by-intent served globally among Catholics and others as a powerful icon of penance in the confessional and absolution and in this case ofextraordinary , exemplary mutual reconciliation.2 In the second image, Stefan CardinalWyszinski, the Primate of Poland, kneels before the just-invested John Paul II and before he can pledge his fidelity, the Pope stands, raises (practically hoists) him up, and embraces him. This image is more than a sentimental Logos one; it is more than one ofjust gratitude to a former superior and fellow bishop. It is an acknowledgment of all the suffering that the Church and Polish nation has endured and of the many sacrifices Wyszinski has made on behalfofthe cross and the eagle. So touching is the moment that Herbert Wise, the director of the 1983 movie about John Paul II (starring Albert Finney), felt it could not be just enacted; and thus, toward the end, the film shifts to the grainy news-reel footage of the procession of cardinals; at the moment of the embrace the frame freezes and the film blooms once again into a color enactment of the moment.3 This bit is technically inferior to the bright colors, sharp images, and sophisticated camera work of the rest of the film, but it exceeds all else in its drama, authenticity, and hope. It shows not a pontiffbut a devoted son of Poland. Unlike the first two images that have been singled out, the third captures a comparatively ordinary moment.4 The scene is a nondescript room in the Catholic University of Lublin in 1967. At a table sits Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, pen in hand, bent with concentration over some pages, which are partially obscured by a portfolio at the front. At Wojtyia's right—to the left of the photograph —is Professor Teresa Rylska. What is unusual is that the...