St. John Paul immediately forgave would-be assassin, Cardinal Dziwisz says (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))

At a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the 44th anniversary of the assassination attempt against Pope St. John Paul II, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz recalled that the Pontiff “from the beginning addressed words of forgiveness to his ‘brother,’ as he called the attacker who had wounded him.”

“The enemies of Christ and the Church were trying to end the life of a pastor who, by preaching the Gospel of love and peace, was giving hope to oppressed and enslaved peoples longing for truth and freedom,” preached Cardinal Dziwisz, at the time John Paul’s secretary. “I watched over him after the operation that lasted hours, and I prayed for a miracle that would save his life, because the Church and the world needed him.”

Cardinal Dziwisz also described Pope Leo’s election as “a gift of the risen Lord to his Church” and noted that the election took place on May 8, the day on which the feast of St. Stanislaus, Poland’s patron saint, is celebrated in Poland.