Pope's faith, intellect still strong, former student says

Published: 2003-10-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Despite his fragile health, Pope John Paul II continues to challenge people with the strength of his faith and his intellect, said a Polish professor who studied under the future pope in Poland. "The contrast between the pope, almost curved under the weight of the cross, and the strength of the Spirit, with which he carries this cross, is becoming more visible," said Father Tadeusz Sticzen, the former student and successor of Father Karol Wojtyla as professor of ethics at the University of Lublin, Poland. Father Sticzen spoke at an Oct. 13 Vatican press conference launching new Italian collections of the philosophical and theological works of Father Wojtyla before his 1978 election as Pope John Paul II. In his writings and in his ministry, the pope has made clear his fascination with God from a human point of view and his fascination with human beings because they are created in the image and likeness of God, he said.

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