A book newly out on the late Pope John Paul 2nd by his personal secretary, archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki, interviewed by a reporter from the commercial television TVN24, reveals many unknown details on the personality of the Polish Pope, for instance that he best liked Tuesdays.
Archbishop Mokrzycki recounts how the Pope took the day off and went picnicking on Tuesdays.
He also says that JP2 loved getting presents on December 6th, Saint Nicholas day in Poland, a traditional date for exchanging gifts, as well as Christmas; that he had a weakness for sweet biscuits – and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, that General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s legs shook so much before his audience with the Pope he nearly fell over, and that in spite of the general conviction, he did not invite Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski to ride with him in the Papamobile.
Archbishop Mokrzycki was the personal secretary of Pope John Paul II in 1996-2005. The book of his reminiscences is on sale starting with today.