| BACK
Papal books: fact and fiction MAN OF THE MILLENNIUM: Reviewed by Fr. Edmund Siedlecki For 16 years the author served as Vatican correspondent for the Italian newspaper, Corriere delle Sera. This book is a translation of his biography: “Karol Wojtyla: L’uomo di Fine Millennio.” Why another biography of Pope John Paul II? Yes, another one! And more will be written! This pope is the most fascinating and complex religious personality of the last quarter of the 20th century. This papal life story has 40 short chapters. The first four deal with early life of Karol Wojtyla, the remaining chapters with his pontificate. These latter chapters cover chronologically the main events of that papacy. When some theme reoccurs, Accattoli makes note of that fact. Thus there are chapters on ecumenical ventures and setbacks, the missionary pope, a theology of the body, conferences of Catholic bishops, workers and the marginalized and preparing for the Third Millennium. The author holds that this pontificate revolves around three critical periods: a)1978-1979: the charter encyclical, “The Redeemer of Man”; pastoral visits to Mexico, Poland and the United States. b)1985-1986: meeting with Muslim youth at Casablanca, journey to India, visit to the Jewish synagogue in Rome, ecumenical day of prayer at Assisi. c) 1994-1995: proposal for an examination of conscience at the end of the millennium; extraordinary consistory to discuss the Great Jubilee; apostolic letter, “On Preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000”; the encyclical, “That All May Be One.” If one has plowed through the mammoth biography of John Paul II by George Weigel, “Witness to Hope,” (992 pages), there is nothing new in this biography. If one wants to find concise information on this pope to prepare for questions on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” or “Jeopardy,” this is your book. Perhaps a definitive biography of Pope John Paul II will never be written. Does he keep a prayer journal as Pope John XXIII did? Yet this most active pope is at the core a mystic. Hints of his mysticism are revealed in his poetry. What has not been reported and perhaps will never be reported is what takes place each morning in his heart and soul during the half-hour of prayer before he celebrates Mass. That prayer is often punctuated by deep sighs, sometimes misinterpreted as expressions of pain. That mystic bent was indicated early in his life when he chose to do his doctorate dissertation on the works of St. John of the Cross and in his desire to become a Carmelite. His archbishop, Cardinal Sapieha, dissuaded him from that calling, but the pull to a contemplative life never left him. Only when we know how this daily, deep prayer pulses through his manifold activity will we truly and fully know “The man of the millennium.” Siedlecki is pastor emeritus of Five Holy Martyrs Parish, Chicago.
The Plot to Kill the Pope Reviewed by Fr. William P. Murphy Catholics, especially “traditional” ones, will read this book with a wary eye. The author has woven intrigue and mayhem amid a fascinating examination of papal history, especially the Crusades and the Inquisition. Grinding his literary axe, Tad Szulc easily defends church dissidents or heretics and highlights all the faults of the popes. But he knows the territory. As a former foreign and diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times Szulc traveled extensively with the pope. In this flight of fiction, he takes the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, calls him Gregory XVII, makes him a Frenchman and purports to “solve” the mystery behind the deed. Or rather, he has a clever Jesuit “solve” it. The pope hires Father Tim Savage, SJ, a Ph.D. from Georgetown, to discover who wants him dead. Savage had once been a CIA operative assigned to Vietnam. He had returned home after two years of bloody covert operations to do some soul-searching. Savage became a priest, studied at the Gregorian in Rome and was continuing to pursue his special gifts in Arabic and Islamic languages when the pope seeks him out. He is a natural to search the almost cold trail for the group behind the jailed paid assassin, Agca Criclic. The tangled plot is tempting—so, too, is the beautiful nun, Sister Angela. The torches of conspiracy are lit in every chapter, with even the pope’s secretary a possible suspect. Like the Kennedy mystery, the reader itches to know “who really dunnit.” Szulc claims his novel is a fictional treatment suggested by a true story. He admits when “Pope Gregory” was confronted with the final explanation, he chose to maintain public silence. Szulc just leaks it to the reader. Murphy is pastor emeritus of Queen of Martyrs Parish, Evergreen Park.
|