[Apologetics] Pope Is Touched by Film on John Paul II - Scriptwriter Remembers John Paul II

[Dianne Dawson]

Pope Is Touched by Film on John Paul II
Benedict XVI and 6,000 Others View Work 

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 31, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Neither Benedict XVI nor the 6,000 people who attended the preview of a made-for-TV movie, "Karol: A Pope Who Remained Man" were able to contain their emotion.

"Horrified as if we were present, we relived the shots of the tragic attempt on his life in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981," said Benedict XVI in an address he gave Thursday after the public's eight-minute applause for the film.

The film, based on a script by journalist Gian Franco Svidercoschi, was directed by Giacomo Battiato. Polish actor Piotr Adamczyk plays the role of Karol Wojtyla. The Italian Studios Taodue and Mediaset undertook the production.

The three-hour segment shown in Paul VI Hall was the second part of a two-part work. The first part was "Karol: A Man Who Became Pope."

It begins with Cardinal Wojtyla's election as Bishop of Rome and covers the events of his pontificate, the third longest in history. It will be broadcast on television in two parts.

After viewing the film, Benedict XVI said: "Once again we heard the opening appeal of his pontificate, which sounded out so often through the years: 'Open the doors to Christ! Do not be afraid!'

"The ensuing images showed us a Pope immersed in contact with God and, for this very reason, ever sensitive to the expectations of mankind."

Benedict XVI continued: "The film caused us to reconsider his apostolic journeys all over the world; it gave us the opportunity to relive his meetings with so many people, with the great ones of the earth and with ordinary citizens, with illustrious figures and with unknown individuals.

"Among all these, special mention should be made of his embrace with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, united to John Paul II by an intimate spiritual harmony."

Tireless prophet

In this film Benedict XVI said one could see "the figure of a tireless prophet of hope and peace, who traveled the roads of the earth to communicate the Gospel to everyone."

The Holy Father added: "His vibrant words returned to our minds, condemning totalitarian regimes, murderous violence and war; words full of consolation and hope expressing his closeness to the relatives of victims of conflict and dramatic terrorist attacks, such as that against the twin towers in New York; courageous words of denunciation against a consumer society and hedonistic culture which aims to create a purely material well-being that cannot satisfy the profound needs of the human heart."

"May our beloved Pope accompany us from on high and obtain for us from the Lord the grace to be always faithful, like him, to our mission," Benedict XVI concluded.

This Sunday, the first anniversary of John Paul II's death, Benedict XVI will appear at the window of his study to take part in the rosary that will recall the exact moment of the Polish Pontiff's death, when St. Peter's Square was crowded with people praying.

Benedict XVI will speak at 9:37 p.m., the precise time when his predecessor "returned to the Father's house."

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Scriptwriter Remembers John Paul II
G.F. Svidercoschi Talks of "Karol" -- the Film and the Man 

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 31, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Gian Franco Svidercoschi, a journalist friend of Karol Wojtyla, was elated after Benedict XVI watched the film the Italian wrote.

"I believe we have achieved our objective" with the film "Karol: A Pope Who Remained Man," Svidercoschi told ZENIT. The title in Italian is "Karol, un Papa Rimasto Uomo."

"He was a Pope who was always a man -- the first part of the film was called 'Karol: A Man Who Became Pope,'" Svidercoschi continued. "In all the Pope's initiatives, his human face was seen. The difficulties of the first trip to Mexico, the attempt on his life, illness ... he always had the capacity to understand human problems."

In the film, directed by Giacomo Battiato, produced by the Italian studios Taodue and Mediaset, the actor who plays the role of Karol Wojtyla is Piotr Adamczyk.

"The Pope is the protagonist in the film, but there are other personalities that help to understand this Pope," explained the author. "For example, the character of Mother Teresa of Calcutta is present throughout the film. In fact, it was like that for the Pope. For him, she was the character that symbolized his pontificate.

"Also presented are two characters who show the martyrdom and sufferings during certain years of the pontificate: Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko, killed in 1984, and Monsignor Oscar Amulfo Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, killed in 1980."

Met protesters

Among the elements invented for reasons of narration, Svidercoschi, who collaborated with John Paul II in the writing of the book "Gift and Mystery," mentions the character of a Canadian doctor who publicly challenged the Pope's teachings on life.

In real life, the Holy Father met with various protagonists in women's protests, in particular a Swiss and a Belgian woman.

The Pope also received a representative of a U.N. agency who came to protest prior to the World Conference on Woman, held in Beijing in 1995. In the film, John Paul II meets this Canadian woman in Africa and then invites her to converse and explains to her his reasons for defending life.

Svidercoschi's favorite scene in the film took place in 1981.

The Pope had just suffered the attack in St. Peter's Square. Meanwhile, in Warsaw, Cardinal Stefan Wyszinski was in his last days, but he clutched to life, and even rejected the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.

"He only allowed himself to die when he learned that the Pope was out of danger. They both spoke on the telephone from their beds. 'Bless me because I have come to the end,'" the primate of Poland said to John Paul II.

"I bless those lips that have spoken of Christ; I bless those hands that have done so much good ...," replied the Pope.

Holy humor

The film also reflects John Paul II's sense of humor. It recounts the story of an Italian nuncio in Africa, who after the operation the Pope underwent in 1992, went to see him at his residence in Castel Gandolfo.

At the end of the meeting, the nuncio said to the Pope: "How well you look, Holiness!" and repeated: "How well you look!"

The Pope, as he himself recounted, was thinking: "Why does he insist so much?"

And the nuncio continued diplomatically: "You are very well, Holiness. You are better than before the operation!"

The Pope replied: "Why don't you have an operation too?"

Svidercoschi says that some have criticized him for showing the Pope's sufferings, because it seems "like a punch in the stomach." In fact, he replies, "no one realized that he had Parkinson's since 1992. He lived half of his pontificate suffering. This is seen in the film."

A year after his death, what most impressed the writer and journalist is that there are still people who continue to discover John Paul II and, with him, the faith. "Many people tell me that their life changed when they met the Pope, or in his dying days, because they rediscovered the faith."

"In a certain sense, with him, the way of living the faith changed," he said. "Before it was a more private faith. However, people spent 18 hours queuing to be able to see the Pope when he died.

"Many were singing ... I think he is 'the Pope of the incarnation,' as he made Christ's face seen, he brought closer elements that for centuries were in opposition, the sacred and the profane. He brought heaven closer to earth. One can suffer, but also enjoy oneself on this earth.

"And he continues to do so. Suffice it to think of Benedict XVI, a 78-year-old Pope, who was the 'guardian' of doctrine and yet, he is now teaching the joy of Christian life. It is something exceptional and at the same time normal for the Church. A Pope who succeeds in speaking about love, about 'eros,' about 'agape,' as few have done."

Svidercoschi concluded: "We have really seen the Holy Spirit in his appointment, because who could imagine a successor for John Paul II?"

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Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.

Ps 42:1
 
 



		
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