JUANVICENTE BOO / CORRESPONDENT IN THE VATICAN
digital ABC Interview
previousspokesman says Pope, although much has been written about Wojtyla, "the rich man's profile as yet undiscovered"
Joaquin Navarro- Valls, doctor and journalist, is the person the world has seen with John Paul II along their 22 years as Pope's spokesman now come to the altar. Navarro-Valls and the cardinal of Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz, secretary to Karol Wojtyla for 40 years, are the two important witnesses to the extraordinary human and spiritual dimension of John Paul "the Great."
Born in Cartagena, Doctor of Medicine from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Journalism from Navarre, Joaquin Navarro-Valls was a correspondent for ABC in Rome in 1984 when Pope noticed him and called him to ask some suggestions: "I thought it would be only an hour ...! and were 22 years in the Vatican!".
psychiatrist, journalist and spokesman for two Popes, essayist and writer, Dr. Navarro-Valls is "Honoris Causa" by many universities in Europe and America. Polyglot, athletic, tanned, smiling and cordial, "voice" of Karol Wojtyla now chairs the Advisory Board of the University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome.
-Doctor Navarro-Valls, the presence of John Paul II has remained alive even after his death. How do you notice?
"Obviously their presence, not only in the richness of his teaching and writings. It is still very loved by millions. Almost say that their mission continues to receive each day in the Vatican Grottoes tens of thousands of visitors.
- But do not miss his physical presence?
-A few days after his death I was asked at a news conference news if you missed it. And then said, "No, do not miss it, simply because earlier, according to the job I had, was with him two or three hours a day. Now, however, I can get in touch with him 24 hours a day. I ask advice, I ask you to help me .... "
-John Paul II was the best witnessed what he said. So his example is his best legacy. But if an idea should reduce all their wealth, I would say he learned to treat the human person and therefore each one is and not what everyone is sympathetic, beauty, resources, etc.
- What is your most vivid memory?
"Perhaps the last, the dismissal and without words, when the final was very close. As always, I was in the room, among other things because we had to continue to report on their status. It was a silent farewell. We locked eyes and it was all said he was not the lack of words . When he died, something happened in that room very revealing. Upon the death of the Pope began a prayer for his soul but a "Te Deum" of thanksgiving for his life, a very rich life that ended his earthly phase at the time.
- What was Karol Wojtyla in private?
-In private as it was seen in public. But I think that was even better: a man in love and a Christian whose peculiarity was his intense personal relationship with God
- John Paul II said that only he could understand "from within." What was the main feature of his personality?
-La that can have a child who is aware of who comes and who stays together continuously. So his person and his spirituality were magnetic, attractive . He had many virtues, which improved every day because they never stopped fighting to live what those virtues required. But the extraordinary range of virtues did not come into collision with each other, had among them a superb integration. For example, could not lose a minute but at the same time, never hurry , never saw him tense or anxious. Special way I remember his good humor, his smile. Even in times when everything seemed to require the tears.
Once, when it was believed only in his private chapel, I saw him sing in front of the sanctuary. Liturgical songs but they were not Polish folk ballads. Sometimes he seemed actually to pray prostrate on the ground.
- Was a mystic?
"I had a strong presence of God, but ate his prayer with the needs of others. Message reached him from around the world, and was in the pew of the chapel. I have seen him spend hours on their knees to these messages, one by one in hand, on all sorts of sufferings and needs. But he knew also give thanks for many good things. I think that prayer was not concerned with things "his" but those of others. And much faith in the mercy of God. So his beatification will take place on the Sunday of Divine Mercy, a party which he instituted and Eve died.
- Can you say it was also a Stoic? What was her mortification?
"It was a rigid moralist or a Stoic. Her mortifications were very frequent, but above all, ordinary. Small sacrifices to reject without giving more importance to bed that offer on an intercontinental flight, delay drinking water in hot weather countries and stuff. In some periods of the year to one meal a day. And the eve of a priestly or episcopal ordination always fasted.
- What was his secret communicator?
-Su communicative effectiveness was based more on what he said, not in how he said it. I would say that the truth of what he said was seen also in the expressive as saying.
- But how long the cameras managed to capture?
"In 1987, during a trip to the United States, a reporter from the New York Times said" the Pope dominates television simply ignoring it. " Not prepare the set, did not accept makeup, not paying attention to the cameras or lights, but only to the people. People who, for him, was always a specific person with other people unique.
- "It gave you specific instructions about what he had to say as a spokesperson?
-confident in the professionalism of those around him. For example, in 1991, told me in detail that he had diagnosed a tumor in his colon, then, was presumed evil. Its purpose was to announce days later at the Angelus, a few words, he would be hospitalized and to pray for him. He added: "Then, if you know the details, say what you feel is appropriate." He had great confidence in the discretion of each one of us. In 22 years I remember that after having treated background an issue, I never once said, "but this information is only for you, do not communicate."
-listened long and carefully, sometimes for long hours, both visitors and those who frequently invited to his table. Rather than giving directions, I used to do was ask for advice or suggestions. Then, of course, knew decide.
- The saints are usually of good humor. "It was John Paul II?
"Among many human qualities was also a great good humor that went beyond a simple character trait. It was also the result of a conviction of a play around with the parameter of faith. He was optimistic, despite everything, he knew that at the end of human history is God, not the void of nothingness.
- You accompanied him on many trips "secret" to the mountains near Rome. What was John Paul II on a day trip?
"It's a shame that we would have done some more, because the burden of work and responsibility at the tense world of the eighties was tremendous. We used to go in the afternoon in an anonymous car, we crossed the frenzied traffic of Rome, we took a highway to a small house in the mountains. We slept there, and the next morning Pope few hours skiing or walking. And no one recognized him because nobody could imagine waiting for the lift Pope. Were a few hours, but it was a delight.
- You accompanied him on trips to 160 countries. How prepared these trips?
-spend more time to prepare than to make them. He learned in depth about the situation of each country, its geography, history, ethnicities, languages, etc.. spending months or weeks to study the language of a country, even the most difficult . I remember in Japan delivered all his speeches and homilies in Japanese ... Once I explained why he traveled so much simpler: "Before people went to the parishes. Now is the pastor who has to go visit people. "
- What was the most important trip?
"There were many very important, like Poland, for example. But I am impressed which made Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, where I could not walk, had more than 80 years and many difficulties to speak. The number of Catholics in that country was less than 200, but wanted to go because he felt that the handful of Catholics had the right to be with the Pope
- And the most dangerous journey? "Probably
visit to Sarajevo, which was delayed and it was very difficult to prepare for security reasons. Shortly before landing we were told that John Paul II could not go in the popemobile but by helicopter from the airport to the center of the city, as the UN forces had just discovered on a bridge a large amount of explosives. I told the Pope, but he asked: "Are there people waiting on the tour?". I said yes, and then replied: "Well done as planned."
- You negotiated personally with Fidel Castro's historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba in 1998. Was it a missed opportunity for Castro?
- I had to go before with Castro to clarify several issues that were unclear. It was a very long, from eight in the evening until two o'clock. During the trip, Castro showed great courtesy and thanked the Pope's speeches, even on issues where he disagreed. That visit was the beginning of a fuller recognition of the Church and of Catholics in Cuba. .
"You traveled to Moscow in 1988 to give Mikhail Gorbachev a long personal letter from the Pope. How was the subsequent visit of Gorbachev to the Vatican and his view on the role of John Paul II in the fall of the Berlin Wall?
-Gorbachev's visit was an extraordinary meeting, the first time a Communist Party Secretary General Pope to visit a Soviet, and the way they understand. That same day the Pope said, "is a man of principles." Although Gorbachev has publicly acknowledged the merit of the Pope, the great protagonist of the fall of the Berlin Wall was he, and he held the promise not to intervene militarily in the Warsaw Pact countries and also avoided a military response from Berlin.
- Can you say it was the Pope of the dignity, the Pope of human rights?
"All his pontificate has been a defense of the transcendent dignity of the human person. And even recognize the characters far removed from Catholic faith. The only time I saw him was "outraged" I was faced with situations of violence as in Lebanon or the Balkans . Seeing suffering could not prevent the invasion of Iraq, which he opposed with all his might.
- Since the first mass as pope in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II has always had a while to greet patients. What it meant for?
"The issue is very deep, made of human suffering and disease major accomplices of his pontificate. Then I had a great love for the weak and sick. I smiled, stroked them, they greeted always one on one. was not afraid of physical suffering, which sometimes is unavoidable, or the MPA large or small: the child gives you an upset, the friend who betrays you ... not afraid of pain or old age, as was seen following the 1981 bombing and in the last years of his life, more and more affected by the disease.
- was also the pope of the "theology of the body ...
" It was one of his great contributions, along with many others. He loved the human body because it is through the human body and is inserted into the story. And the body itself and others, deserves respect because it is not just a set of tissues, but the historical status of the person. I was not afraid but rather the body. Touched the sick, caressed and blessed to pregnant women. Kissed, hugged, played sports, cheered, sang ... I think his book on the theology of the body - "Male and female he created them" - is not only a classic of Christian thought but of philosophical anthropology.
- you ever talk in English?
- We spoke in Italian, which he had declared "our language" the first time appeared at the balcony of the basilica of San Pedro. But occasionally initiated conversations with me in Castilian. And it was always going to me a joke. As I said, had the gift of good humor.
"The fact that five times is to visit Spain and eloquent. He knew its history and literature: I still remember great conversations with him talking about classic and modern English authors. He was also aware some ambiguities in its history.
- Now raised to the altar, "you will write your personal scrapbook of a saint?
-Touch you an issue that weighs on me and I feel like a moral imperative. I have about 600 pages of notes taken during those years ... Much has already been written about him, but his person, his human profile is still rich, at least in part, to discover.
- In April 2005, the faithful chanted "Santo subito!", "Holy Now." Beatification is the first step. And then ... holy when?
"When God wills. But meanwhile there is anything we can do: learn from it to live.
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