JPII injured in 1982 by knife-wielding priest, new documentary discloses

Vatican City, Oct 16, 2008 / 12:06 pm

The former secretary of the late Pope John Paul II has revealed new details about the life of the Servant of God.  Information regarding an attack in 1982 and his last public appearance is being shown in a documentary on the Pontiff’s life titled, “Testimony.”

 

“Testimony,” a film based on a memoir published by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz last year, is narrated by British actor, Michael York, will be viewed by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican premiere on Thursday.

 

The documentary also includes interviews with Cardinal Dzwisz, the current archbishop of Krakow, Poland who served for many years as the late Pontiff’s private secretary.

 

Along with information from the memoir, new additions have also been made.  The documentary explains how on May 12, 1982, during a visit to the shrine in Fatima, Portugal, a Spanish priest attacked the Holy Father with a knife.

 

During the incident, reports Reuters, the priest "was knocked to the ground by police and arrested." However, the general public did not know that the knife had struck the Pontiff.

 

"I can now reveal that the Holy Father was wounded. When we got back to the room (in the Fatima sanctuary complex) there was blood," Cardinal Dziwisz says in the documentary, according to Reuters.

 

The film also includes the Pontiff's last public appearance in St. Peter's Square, when he was unable to speak due to his illness and being overcome by emotion.  After the incident, Dziwisz recalled that the Pope managed to whisper, "If I can't speak any more, it's time for me to go."

 

Servant of God John Paul II died at the age of 84 on April 2, 2005.