Pope could have been great actor, says old theater companion

Published: 2003-10-13

ROME (CNS) -- If he had not become a priest, bishop and head of the universal church, Pope John Paul II "would have been a great actor," said one of his former acting companions in a Polish underground theater group. "He had a lot of talent and an original and profound way of interpreting theatrical texts," Halina Kwiatowska said in an Oct. 13 interview with Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper. As pope, he has used those talents in other ways, she said. "Voice, diction and gesture have helped him to convey the truth and convince his listeners. The pope passes through a crowd of pilgrims and stops a few moments to talk to someone, and the person listening has the impression of being alone with the Holy Father and is happy," she said. Kwiatowska knew the pope when he was a young man, when they were both active in an underground theater movement in their home town of Wadowice during the Nazi occupation. A few years later, he gave up theater activities and other studies to join the priesthood.

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