London: Pope John Paul II had an intense relationship with a married Polish-born American philosopher for more than 30 years, according to previously unseen letters featuring in a BBC documentary that revealed a rarely seen side of the late pontiff. The former Vatican chief’s letters to writer Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, which feature in the documentary being shown by the BBC on Monday, had been kept away from public view in the National Library of Poland for years.
The letters do not indicate that the Pope, who died in 2005 at the age of 84 , broke his vow of celibacy, but the tone of some of his letters to her points to intense feelings between them, the broadcaster said. The letters show that the friendship began in 1973 when Tymieniecka contacted the future Pope, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, then Archbishop of Krakow, about a book on philosophy that he had written. The then 50-year-old travelled from the US to Poland to discuss the work. Shortly afterwards, the pair began to correspond. At first the cardinal’s letters were formal, but as their friendship grew, they become more intimate. The two spent camping and skiing holidays together and went on country walks.
