My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

The Diocese of Brooklyn is privileged to host the visit of His Eminence, Stanisław Cardinal Dziwisz, this week. Cardinal Dziwisz is making some pastoral visits to the Polish communities in the United States.  Besides his pastoral concern for Polish immigrants, he is seeking support to build a youth center in Kraków, Poland, dedicated to the memory of Blessed John Paul II.

There was no cause closer to the Blessed John Paul II’s heart than the outreach to the youth.  Perhaps more than any other person on earth, Cardinal Dziwisz knew Blessed John Paul II the best.

For almost 40 years, first in Poland and then in Rome, Stanisław Dziwisz was his private and personal secretary.  He lived all of the major events of his life with John Paul, from his pastoral ministry in Kraków to the day he died in the Papal Apartment at the Vatican.

In 2007, in a series of interviews with the author, Gian Franco Svidercoschi, Cardinal Dziwisz responded to questions regarding his experiences with John Paul II. The book, entitled, “A Life with Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope,” is amazing.  I read the book in Italian and believe that it is now available in English.  The Cardinal gives insights into the various events of John Paul’s life, seen from the inside.

First, Cardinal Dziwisz  talks about the years in Poland, and in particular an interesting insight into the construction of the cross at Nowa Huta and the Council years.  The long pontificate of John Paul II was shared by Cardinal Dziwisz, and the insight into his spiritual life was most revealing, in particular the description of John Paul’s visit with Ali Agca in prison following the attempted assassination of the Holy Father.  The Cardinal says that John Paul first wrote a letter and then decided it would be better to visit Ali Agca personally and to forgive him.  Cardinal Dziwisz further said that Ali Agca never asked for forgiveness but only asked why the Pope had not died.

This coming Saturday, July 7, Cardinal Dziwisz will be with us here in the Diocese of Brooklyn to celebrate Mass in the main chapel of the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston at 3 p.m.  It is my personal privilege and honor to welcome Cardinal Dziwisz to our diocese with the Polish community of Brooklyn and Queens, which esteems him so very much.

While with us, he will witness the veneration of relics of Blessed John Paul II.  The Mass is open to everyone.  Tickets to the banquet following Mass, sponsored by our Polish Apostolate, may be purchased for $100 each by contacting Our Lady of Czestochowa-St. Casimir Church at 718-768-5724.  All proceeds of this dinner will go to the cause of the youth center in Kraków dedicated to John Paul II.

The famous words of Blessed John Paul II which I continually use are the invitation of the Lord Jesus to put out into the deep.  If there was anyone who understood those words and lived them with Blessed John Paul II, it was Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz.  Please make every effort to welcome him to our Diocese and thank him for his faithful service to the man who changed the course of world events in the last century.