There are many compelling transcendent elements to the life of the late pontiff, John Paul II. His friendship with Wanda Poltawska is a source of great fascination for me. A Nazi concentration camp survivor who would become a close friend of the pope, from the time he served as a pastor in Krakow. While he served as her friend, confessor and guide, her insights contributed to his philosophical and theological reflections on the dignity of women and fostering a "civilization of love."
Here's my commentary in the National Catholic Register on Wanda's memoir of her four years in the Ravensbruck concentration camp during the Second World War: ...And I Am Afraid of My Dreams.
Recently, Wanda published her correspondence over many decades with the late pope. The letters have not been translated into English yet. Some members of the Polish hierarchy were angered by her move, arguing that the letters should have first been turned over to the commission reviewing documentation related to the cause for the late pontiff's canonization. However, other Polish bishops supported the publication of the letters.
While we're on the subject of the late John Paul Ii, here's my review of another memoir--A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope by another close collaborator--his one-time papal secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. According to news reports, the cardinal is among those members of the Polish hierarchy who are not pleased about Wanda Poltawska's latest book.
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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