A Life with Karol
My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope
Item Number: 60534
This is a new release and will be available in early March 2008.
This intimate, affectionate portrait of Pope John Paul II by his longtime secretary and confidant reveals fascinating new details about the opinions, hopes, fears, and dramatic life of this public man.
“I had accompanied him for almost forty years: twelve in Kraków and then twenty-seven in Rome. I was always with him, always at his side. Now, in the moment of death, he’d gone on alone. . . .And now? Who is accompanying him on the other side?”
—From A Life with Karol
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz worked side by side with Pope John Paul II for almost forty years, enjoying unique access to both the public and private man. In A life with Karol, he provides a close-up glimpse into the Pope’s life and the critical events of his papacy.
Dziwisz was sitting next to the Pope during the assassination attempt in 1981. He recounts the Pope's reaction to 9/11, describing his thoughts and feelings on that day. And the Cardinal’s moving description of the Pope’s haunting memories of World War II uncovers the roots of the pontiff’s intense opposition to George W. Bush’s war on Iraq.
The two men shared moments of fun and spontaneity as well. Dziwisz writes about the times the Pope would slip out of the Vatican, wearing a Panama hat, to stroll the streets of Rome, and he describes the clandestine ski and hiking trips the pair made to escape the Vatican. His firsthand account of the Pope’s last years also reveals that John Paul II considered resigning. These stories and others lend added poignancy to Dziwisz’s extraordinary portrayal of the Pope’s courage and calmness during his final illness.
About the Author: CARDINAL STANISLAW DZIWISZ was personal secretary to Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) in Kraków and in Rome. He was ordained a priest in 1963, was appointed Archbishop of Kraków in 2005, and in 2006 was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
Memories of John Paul II Recounted Full Review...
1. Damien of Molokai - Priest of Heroic Kindness 11/02/2009
2. Msgr. Ronald Knox - Priest of Heroic Modesty 10/05/2009
3. Fr. Peter Whelan - Priest of Heroic Generosity 08/31/2009
4. Augustine Tolton - Priest of Heroic Patience 07/30/2009
5. Don Carlo Gnocchi - Priest of Heroic Kindness 06/18/2009
6. Fr. Vincent Capodanno - Priest of Heroic Virtue 06/01/2009
7. Our Lady of Fatima 02/26/2009
8. St. Anthony of Padua 02/26/2009
9. St. Mark the Evangelist 02/24/2009
10. St. Joseph 02/23/2009
11. St. Patrick 02/11/2009
12. The Meaning of Lent 01/21/2009
13. St. Valentine 01/16/2009
14. St. John Bosco 01/16/2009
15. St. Anthony the Great, Founder of Monasticism 01/14/2009
16. Archbishop Fulton Sheen 01/14/2009
17. St. Thomas Aquinas 01/06/2009
18. St. Francis de Sales 01/06/2009
19. The Conversion of Paul 12/17/2008
20. St. Agnes of Rome 12/17/2008
21. Pope St. Damasus I 12/02/2008
22. St. Jude Thaddeus 12/02/2008
23. Good King Wenceslas 11/25/2008
24. A Resource Guide to Books by Pope Benedict XVI 11/25/2008
25. St. Catherine of Alexandria 11/24/2008
26. St. Francis Xavier 11/24/2008
27. St. Lucy 11/24/2008
28. Saint Cecilia 11/21/2008
29. Devotion to the Saints 11/13/2008
30. St. Albert the Great 11/04/2008
31. St. Martin de Porres, the Saint of the Broom 10/24/2008
32. Monthly Dedications of the Church Year 10/24/2008
33. St. Josaphat Kuncevyc 10/21/2008
34. St. Teresa of Avila 10/14/2008
35. St. Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart 10/14/2008
36. In Remembrance of Pope John Paul II 10/13/2008
37. Resources for the Year of St. Paul 10/13/2008
38. A Letter From Padre Pio 10/01/2008
39. Francis and Clare - A New Feature Film 10/01/2008
40. Mother Teresa's Secret Fire 10/01/2008
41. St. Pio - Padre Pio - A Model for Our Times 09/22/2008
42. The Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes 07/21/2008
43. About St. Bernadette 07/21/2008
44. The Real St. Nicholas 07/08/2008
45. The Conversion of St. Paul 07/03/2008
46. Why a Year of St. Paul? 07/02/2008
47. The Martyrdom of St. Paul 07/02/2008
48. About the Nativity of St. John the Baptist 06/20/2008
49. About St. Aloysius Gonzaga 06/19/2008
50. The Feast of St. Justin Martyr 05/31/2008
51. Feast of St. John Neumann 01/02/2008
52. Feast of the Holy Family 12/29/2007
53. Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr 12/28/2007
54. Feast of St. John the Evangelist 12/26/2007
55. Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 12/26/2007
56. Feast of St. Stephen, Martyr 12/24/2007
57. Feast of St. Basil the Great 12/21/2007
