By Susan Brinkmann
Staff Writer
A new documentary based on the book by Pope John Paul II’s long-time personal secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, reveals much about the late pontiff’s life, including the time he was stabbed by a knife-wielding priest during a trip to Fatima.
The documentary, called Testimony, was directed by Polish director Pawel Pitera and premiered at the Vatican on October 15 with Pope Benedict XVI in attendance. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz also attended the screening. The film is narrated by British actor Michael York and is a film version of a memoir published by Cardinal Dziwisz last year but with some additions.
One of the most startling revelations in the film is about the time the Pope was stabbed by a priest during his May 12, 1982 visit to the shrine of Fatima, Portugal. Ironically, the Pope was making the trip in thanksgiving for Our Lady’s intervention in saving his life a year erlier when Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca attempted to assassinate him in St. Peter’s Square.
Apparently, at some point during this visit, Juan Fernandez Krohn, a crazed Spanish priest, lunged at the Pope with a dagger and was knocked to the ground by police and arrested. The fact that the knife actually reached the Pope and cut him was not known until now.
“I can now reveal that the Holy Father was wounded,” Cardinal Dziwisz says in the documentary. “When we got back to the room (in the Fatima sanctuary complex) there was blood.”
The Pope carried on with the trip without disclosing the wound.
Krohn was arrested and served several years in a Portuguese prison before being expelled from the country.
The documentary also includes video of the Pope’s final appearance from his window overlooking St Peter’s Square when, overcome by illness and emotion, he was unable to pronounce any words.
Later, when he was wheeled back into his apartments, Cardinal Dziwisz says the Pope, who had undergone a tracheotomy to help him breathe, whispered: “If I can’t speak any more, it’s time for me to go.”
He died several days later on April 2, 2005, aged 84.
The film is more of a docu-drama with narration by York, interviews with Cardinal Dziwisz, historical footage and re-enacted segments of the Pope’s life played out by actors. It was filmed in Rome, the Vatican and the cities in Poland where John Paul was born and worked as a priest, bishop and cardinal before his election to the papacy in 1978.
After viewing the film, Pope Benedict said: “Revealing previously unknown episodes, the film shows the human simplicity, the firm courage and, finally, the suffering of John Paul II, which he faced to the end with his inborn hardiness and the patience of a humble servant of the Gospel.”
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