The Secrets of Saint John Paul
In 2014, BBC broadcaster Edward Stourton was ushered into a room in one of Europe's most celebrated libraries. Watched over by its director, he was shown a pile of papers so sensitive that only a handful of staff knew of their existence.
They were the intimate letters of a saint - Pope John Paul II - to a Polish-American woman, Anna-Theresa Tymieniecka, a fellow philosopher and translator for his book, The Acting Person. They testify to an intimate side of his life the Vatican has kept secret for decades. They crackle with human emotion as they meditate on the nature of love and human relationships. They reflect his struggle against Communism in Poland, and his shaping of Catholicism into the spiritual wellspring of an opposition movement that would - as he had always believed - bring about a revolution and sweep away the Soviet Empire.
This documentary reveals these letters to the world for the first time - opening an unprecedented window into the inner life of a man in the act of making history.
Producer: Steve Burns, Fiona Stourton, Stephanie Carter, Richard Denton
Production Company: Blakeway Productions Ltd., THIRTEEN Productions LLC
Production Year: 2016
Copyright Year: 2016
Director: Richard Denton
Writers: Edward Stourton
Discs: 1
Subtitles: Y
Subtitle Language: English (SDH)
DVI: Y
Audio Format: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen