At a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the 44th anniversary of the assassination attempt against Pope St. John Paul II, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz recalled that the Pontiff “from the beginning addressed words of forgiveness to his ‘brother,’ as he called the attacker who had wounded him.”
Newsdesk (15/05/2025 11:40, Gaudium Press) The tragedy of May 13, 1981 was and still is a sign for the Church. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop Emeritus of Krakow, is convinced of this. He presided at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter’s Basilica, over the mass on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the attack on St. John Paul II.
At the beginning of the Eucharist, the cardinal entrusted the ministry of Leo XIV — elected on the day in which Our Lady of Pompeii is celebrated — to the intercession of Mary and Wojtyła. He then referred to the time of illness and convalescence experienced by Pope Francis: “We received his last blessing on Easter Sunday, and we were moved the day after the news of his passage to eternity. We said goodbye to the Pope with sorrow, but also with gratitude to God for his twelve years of service to the universal Church and the world.”
Then there was the election of Pope Leo XIV: “A gift of the risen Lord for his Church” — continued Dziwisz — highlighting that the Polish faithful will always remember that the new Pontiff was elected on May 8, the feast day of the country’s main patron saint: Saint Stanislaus, bishop and martyr.
Returning to the attack on Wojtyła, the cardinal — who was a direct witness — remarked that “the enemies of Christ and the Church were trying to deprive of the life of a pastor who, by preaching the Gospel of love and peace, was giving hope to oppressed and enslaved peoples, longing for truth and freedom”.
The cardinal recalled having accompanied the wounded Holy Father in the ambulance ride to the Gemelli hospital, administering the anointing of the sick: “I watched over him after the operation that lasted hours and I prayed for a miracle that would save his life, because the Church and the world needed him”. Despite his serious wounds, the saintly Pope did not think of himself but prayed for the Church and the world: “He did not care who shot him, from the beginning he addressed words of forgiveness to his ‘brother’, as he called the attacker who wounded him”. He offered his suffering to the Church, aware that the faithful prayed for him, “as the early Church ‘constantly prayed for Peter in prison'”. Dziwisz, certain that it was the Virgin who ‘thwarted’ the plans, added that Saint John Paul II was also convinced that he owed his salvation to Our Lady, because May 13 is the commemoration of the apparition at Fátima.
In closing, referring to the words of Leo XIV about the contempt for faith and the search for ‘other securities, such as technology, money, success, power and pleasure’, the cardinal celebrant relaunched the mission of the Church as ‘urgent’.
At the end of the well-attended liturgy, the procession of those present reached the tomb of Saint John Paul II.
- Raju hasmukh with files from L’Osservatore Romano (Italian)