Secretary Didn't Burn John Paul's Notes

[barbaraann]

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 26 minutes ago

WARSAW, Poland -
Pope John Paul II's longtime private secretary said Saturday he did not burn the late pontiff's notes as his will demanded, arguing that the papers contain "great riches" and should instead be preserved.

Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, who worked with the pope from 1966 until his death earlier this year, told Polish state radio there are "quite a lot of manuscripts on various issues," but he offered no details.

"Nothing has been burned," Dziwisz said. "Nothing is fit for burning, everything should be preserved and kept for history, for the future generations — every single sentence."

"These are great riches that should gradually be made available to the public."
...
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050604/ap_on_re_eu/poland_john_paul_s_papers_1

Oh, to have been a fly on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel!

[brainshrub]

1. Good for him!

A public servant's records belong to our descendants. We have no right to destroy them.

[MemphisTiger]

5. Since when is the Pope a public servant?

He was elected by Cardinals, not the Catholic population. I say honor the Holy Father's final wishes and burn them, no matter how important they may seem. Do you know how many more minutes in hell you'll burn for disobeying the Pope? I don't want to find out.

[trotsky]

6. Hmmm

Do you know how many more minutes in hell you'll burn for disobeying the Pope?

Yeah, zero. There is no hell. I would rather preserve as much knowledge as possible for posterity, so they can maybe avoid the mistakes we've made. (Yes, that includes the pope.)

[MemphisTiger]

7. That part was a joke...

but I still think the he should burn the papers as directed. It was a dying man's wish, it's not like a cure for cancer will be in the papers.

[trotsky]

8. No cure for cancer

but perhaps some information about what he did (or didn't do) to combat the priest pedophilia scandal, etc.

[CatholicEdHead]

2. The point of this is to have a clean slate for the next Pope

in this case, to not have Benedict XVI/Ratingzer to "plagerize" all of JPII's stances.

[emad]

3. OK. So JP2's last will & testament said: "Burn all the papers"

But Polish ex-secretary Dziwisz has kept some back.

Never mind the legal implications of deliberately breaking someone's will....

Seem to remember this plot in the Pirncess Diana business when the butler Paul Burrell earned a lot of $$$$$$$$ and kudos flogging her memoirs.

"Archbishop Dziwisz said the documents had to be studied and in the long run, he hoped they might even be published and help in the process of John Paul being made a saint."

See BBC newS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4610607.stm

[Dorian Gray]

4. Thanks, emad...

I was conflicted about this. :)

A part of me agrees with his secretary. His papers are historical documents now, and they will really add to what we know of this man. At the same time, it was in his last will and testament that they should be burned. I believe that he was adamantly against materialism (which includes desiring earthly materials -- usually expensive ones, but it can also include these letters), and the decision to burn these letters must have been a difficult one to make in the first place. So, we should respect his wishes and have it done.