In memory of John Paul II (Rocco Buttiglione) 
October 2009 I was asked to write a memory of John Paul II. It is not easy because time did not disappear the wound of the loss but you need to bear witness to what happened.
The first time I saw Karol Wojtyla was a person in a crowd. He walked, clutched her hands, she paused a few seconds with each. In a short space so he could communicate the certainty of a living interest to your person. I remember thinking: this is one that would give my life for you, if he had the opportunity and there was a chance. It was not a knight of the ideal, was a friend of men. So he did not know me but I already knew him. Entered the lives of his friends and those in turn entered the lives of others, and spoke of him and told of things he did, how he had to make sense of warmth and the usual things. For him every moment was important and every moment spent with him was an event in which the heart of the world grew closer. His friends told him to people who in turn met. So many that they had never seen up close feeling of knowing and being friends, even without the support of facebook. They helped a lot in his writings that passed from hand to hand. Not so much the philosophy books (except maybe "Love and Responsibility" that has accompanied the growth of many great loves) as the sermons that circulated typewritten or mimeographed maximum. So it was present in the lives of many around him and created an environment. Environment in Poland is said srodowisko and this was also the name of an association that at some point formed ones that were closer. But the "srodowisko" in the broad sense were part of many people, maybe the whole diocese of Cracow. The diocesan synod (which lasted seven years) was an opportunity to expand the original experience to which so many were involved. The problem was not writing documents, but engage people in an experience of liberation in progress. The scheme was watching and did not understand. For the Communists it was all politics and in those circles there, strictly speaking, a policy he was little. They spoke the truth about man, were organizing congresses, vacations together, retreats, pilgrimages ... The main thing was, however, find the together in a community free from the domination, illuminated by the mysterious charm of that person. If someone had asked what was the reason for this fascination Wojtyla would have simply said, is the presence of Christ in life, the prayer that this presence be strengthened and not fail. It was not a leader, at least not as the leaders of this world. Not called to himself but to something greater than himself that he was following, and talking to people not to include them in his project but to help them find themselves in the light of that presence that had illuminated his life. He helped to discover their own vocation, that is his duty. One thing that annoyed and worried about the scheme is that these communities were difficult to infiltration. In a society where no one spoke to anyone because it was open to the suspicion that even the closest friend was a spy or an agent provocateur of the system's friendship that environment that is progressively extended to involve the whole Church of Cracow was created a space of mutual trust and solidarity.
Recently I was invited to Poland to talk about this "Do you remember the years of the conspiracy." I started saying it would be wrong because I have conspired in Poland very little. We held seminars, university courses were doing. They were, in truth illegal courses and seminars but only because the regime was convinced that conspiracy, but was not true.
Or maybe it was true. For a regime convinced that everything was political, that everything could and should be reduced to political and military balance of power was the most terrible threat that states that politics is not everything and that there is a higher reality that also considers the policy. The company made this alternative is a measure of the truth of man, before which even an ethics policy was justified and could be found lacking. In a way around Wojtyla spoke of politics, but another policy. He spoke of the good of mankind and the nation. You do not understand Polish history and charm of those years, terrible if you do not remember this great educational experience with where Wojtyla (Wyszynski and before him) had permeated Polish society. You do not understand the struggle of Solidarity without violence and continually marked by the call to truth and conscience of the adversary. Nothing to totalitarianism is so subversive that the assertion of a sphere of existence that comes before politics and also considers the policy.
Before this policy consciousness of totalitarianism could not be convicted and they did. But we are confident that our close examination of Western political consciousness? I remember the time of the war in Iraq. Then I was minister and tried to explain government policy, the many good reasons why we could not not to cooperate with the Americans, while not participating directly in military operations. He understood but was not convinced. Once said to me: how is it that the Polish people have found a way to reclaim non-violent freedom against what was then the Empire the world's strongest and most powerful nations on earth they find a way to defend the law international action against Iraq without sowing death and destruction? The application is still with me, and increasingly militarized international relations without this will lead to clear progress towards peace and a better world order. Rocco Buttiglione
