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Confidant cardinal tells new tales about Pope John Paul's role in scandal In a new book, John Paul II’s longtime secretary claims that the former pope is not to blame for his support and praise of a disgraced power broker accused of pedophilia and bribery, according to a Catholic News Service report. The book, written in Italian by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz and titled Ho Vissuto con un Santo (I Lived with a Saint), has apparently changed certain memories of factual inconvenience — creating a sort of performance piece that sings truths people never knew. Pope Francis has ordered the canonization...

Tuesday April 21, 2009 Polish Cardinal, Former Secretary to Pope JPII: Politicians, Like Pilate, Kill the Truth of the Life of the Unborn By Thaddeus M. BaklinskiKRAKOW, Poland, April 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During his Good Friday homily at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a Marian pilgrimage site near Krakow and home to a live dramatization of the Passion of Christ, Archbishop of Krakow Stanis?aw Cardinal Dziwisz called on the over 150,000 faithful present to show courage and speak the truth in defense of the dignity of human life.The Cardinal condemned abortion, euthanasia, common-law marriage, homosexual unions and in vitro fertilization.Speaking to...

Polish Pope’s closest aid to become cardinal Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, of Kraków, has been named cardinal by Pope Benedict. While the appointment is seen as a victory for the Church’s more open wing in Poland, it comes at a time when the darker aspects of the Church is coming under more and more scrutiny. Report by Michal Kubicki The Krakow archbishop is one of 15 new cardinals from five continents whose names were announced by Pope Benedict XVI. In the city of Krakow, which has traditionally had a cardinal as head of archdiocese, the nomination did not come as a...

John Paul II's longtime secretary consecrated archbishop of Krakow MONIKA SCISLOWSKA KRAKOW, Poland (AP) - Pope John Paul II's longtime aide Stanislaw Dziwisz was installed Saturday as archbishop of Krakow - the post once held by John Paul - fulfilling the late pope's wish for his trusted secretary and friend. Pope Benedict XVI, who appointed Dziwisz to lead the important diocese in June, described him as "the best person to hold this position," in a papal bull read out by Rev. Jan Zajac during a ceremony in Krakow's Wawel Castle cathedral. "By now, the faithful have come to know your...

KRAKOW, Poland --John Paul II's longtime private secretary defended on Wednesday his decision not to burn the pope's papers as the pontiff's will instructed, saying the pope had given him a "free hand" in dealing with the materials. ... "The Holy Father gave me an absolutely free hand on the matter," Dziwisz said. "It is my responsibility what to keep. And I absolutely don't see that anything should be burned, destroyed," he said. "I think this belongs to the Church, to the society and to the general culture."

By Ela Kasprzycka ASSOCIATED PRESS 4:46 a.m. June 3, 2005 WARSAW, Poland – Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary and close friend to the late Pope John Paul II, was named the archbishop of Krakow on Friday, the Vatican's representative to Poland said. Dziwisz, 66, takes over the position once held by the late pope, said Jozef Trela, secretary to papal nuncio Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk. He replaces the popular Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, 78, who asked to retire three years ago due to his age but stayed on at the request of John Paul. "I have been wanting and thinking about this...

<p>Sickness is not preventing John Paul II from fighting out his last battle. But in the meantime, maneuvers over his succession are underway.</p> <p>In short, two or three Italian candidates might enter the conclave and jockey for leadership, as happened between Giuseppe Siri and Giovanni Benelli in the memorable head-to-head of the second conclave of 1978, the one from which a new man, Wojtyla, finally emerged.</p>