The man who served Pope John Paul II as his private secretary for nearly 40 years has revealed he disobeyed the pontiff's last testament instruction to burn his papers because they were "great riches". Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, one of only two individuals mentioned by name in John Paul's will, said in an interview on Polish radio that there were "quite a lot of manuscripts on various issues," but refused to give any details.He suggested some of the material left by the pope could be useful in the process of beatification, announced by Pope Benedict XVI last month.
"Nothing has been burnt," he went on, "Nothing is fit for burning, everything should be preserved and kept for history, for the future generations - every single sentence." Don Stanislao, as he was known in the Vatican, was the pope's constant companion and the two enjoyed a relationship described as father-son and love-hate. Born in southern Poland in 1939, the son of a railway worker, and ordained a priest in 1963, he was Archbishop Karol Wojtyla's assistant in Krakow, and followed him to Rome on his election as pope. He gave no hint as to how many papers he has declined to burn.
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