[shouts orders in German]
Thank you for helping me die, Father. I'm safe now.
I can see what Germany was like when I was a boy.
White houses along a river﹝
[officer shouts in German]
Get out of the way, Father. They're telling you to move away from me.
My brother.
[officer shouts in German]
Get out of the way, Father. They'll kill you.
A new day will come when your children will see the same white houses along the river.
[officer shouts orders in German]
God bless you.
[officer shouts orders in German]
Who killed him?
You or me?
You killed him, Polish priest.
And now I'm going to kill you.
May God forgive you.
According to my God, the world is ruled by honour.
The world must be ruled by love.
- Shoot him. - [officer shouts orders in German]
[woman screaming]
[soldier shouts in German]
Hey, you.
Papers.
- Where is this beautiful girl going? - To church.
- Which church? - St Andrew's.
- What are you going to do in church? - Pray.
We are coming to eat at your house tonight.
May I go now?
- Pretty eyes, what's your hurry? - Come with us.
[whistle]
Go, pray. Little Polish bitch.
Excuse me, Father. Have you by any chance seen Karol...?
Karol?
I was waiting for you.
Why are you wearing a cassock?
They're shooting and deporting seminarians.
The archbishop wants us to go round dressed as priests.
Why didn't you tell me?
- Don't you trust me? - Of course I trust you.
I trust you so much that...
..sometimes I think about something and I get this feeling you already know it.
Well, I didn't know about this.
You can't spend your life confessing a bunch of old women.
- You're a writer, a poet, an actor, an artist. - I've made a decision.
This is what I have to do.
What are you doing?
- You are leaving me alone. - No.
You won't be alone.
- I've lost you. - You haven't lost me, Hania.
I will be here for you more than ever.
I've got to make this decision. I'm talking about the future.
It has to be better than this evil we are going through. And I want to be a part of it.
I don't see any future. And I will never be anybody's slave, ever.
- I'd rather die. - No.
You want to live.
We're all going to live to fight for a world filled with love instead of hatred.
I'm sorry.
[reciting prayer in Latin]
[explosion]
They blew up the bridge. The Russians are arriving!
The Nazis are running away.
They are retreating. Poland is free! Poland is saved!
We're saved! Poland is free!
What are you doing here? Come on. We have to go.
Hans.
Come on. Come.
? Christe eleison
? Kyrie eleison
?Kyrie eleison
? Sancta Maria
? Ora pro nobis...
Come, almighty Creator.
I will be the ground others walk on to reach the place you will lead them to.
HANS FRANK ExECUTED AT NUREMBERG
[birds cry]
[speaks Russian]
Welcome.
Julian Kordek, right?
They told me something about you that seems impossible for a Pole.
That I don't hate Russians? I spent my best years at Moscow University.
Nyet. That you are not a Catholic.
Tell me, is that a joke or just some trick to further your career?
An even bigger joke would be if our socialist revolution gave Catholics free rein.
Is that a good reason why this should become your desk?
This is a list of the Polish clergy. The Nazis wiped out a third of them.
But there are many left. Many.
I won't give them time to breathe, act or think.
The day will come when they won't have time to dream of their God.
[Karol] I'm a young face jutting from the Tatra rocks.
May a field of rye grow from my youth,
cradled in yearning and pain.
Let the happiness magnify you, great mystery.
Over here!
Go, go, go!
[they shout out to each other]
Przemek, will you be the goalkeeper, please?
All right.
I would like to play, too. Thank you.
Good save.
You won't save the next one, not even if you beg for help.
You want to bet?
Father Karol, the secret service!
- Over here? - I saw them in the church.
[speaks Polish]
What's going on? Monsignor Kurowski...
You can't arrest him. That's totally illegal inside a church.
- You want to join us? - That's all right, Karol. Let them do their duty.
- What's he being accused of? - What's your name?
Wojty?a.
Your monsignor preaches subversion.
He betrayed his country, which is also my country and your country.
Monsignor Kurowski has only spoken about sacred things in this church.
This is the last thing your priest will see
before he realises that the life he dedicated to sacred things
has been nothing but an illusion.
It's awful being placed in front of nothingness, isn't it?
What you call nothingness, I call everything.
Where you see darkness, I see light.
When you say destruction, I say salvation.
Goodbye, Wojty?a.
- What did you say your first name was? - Karol.
Karol.
And don't you forget my name. Julian Kordek.
[Karol] You are in the second month? [Hania] No, the third. Pawel is so happy.
[Hania] But we are already afraid we will spoil this little thing with too much love.
Too much love will make your child a joyful and gifted person.
- What's this about Lublin? - They shut down all the faculties of theology.
They set one up in Warsaw but it's controlled by the government.
Only Lublin is independent.
Archbishop Baziak said to me, "I've decided to send you to teach ethics."
- What did you answer? - I'd rather be a priest among people here.
- What did he say? - "You're going to Lublin."
- So you have to leave Krak車w? - Actually, I get to do both.
How will you manage?
It's only 200 miles from Krak車w to Lublin. That's eight hours. I can travel at night.
You're putting a lot of faith in our railroad system.
Where are you going?
My husband is a reporter here. Can you let us in?
Go.
Go!
What are they doing?
- You have no right to do this. - Then file a complaint. We have orders.
We ask for respect. Our lives are in these papers.
What right do they have?
Their excuse is that we refused to publish Stalin's death eulogy.
Don't touch this.
Pawel!
On your knees!
Are you going to kill him?
Over a typewriter?
He made a mistake. Don't make a bigger one.
Take everything away. Grab the paperwork, too.
Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself killed for a stupid typewriter.
It's our living and my only freedom.
Thank you.
You know how important the father is for a baby, don't you?
You'd better never let me catch you together again. I'll toss the bunch of you in jail.
What's next? You'll cut out our vocal cords?
If that's what it takes, why not?
What method did Christians use to convert the American lndians?
Non-Christian methods, which the Church has to ask forgiveness for.
So we meet again. It's Karol Wojty?a, right?
"Modern man can expect only one important thing from a priest. Christ."
"He can ask for the rest,
things that are useful from an economic, social and political standpoint,
from many others."
"The priest is a unique observer of the invisible in the world."
You're a good writer, Wojty?a.
I was. But from the looks of things here...
- Doesn't Christ ever smile at men? - Christ is love.
We could eventually ask ourselves why this love is nailed to the cross.
This office has been requisitioned.
As for your magazine...
WARSAW - THE ARCHBlSHOP'S SEE
"To all the Polish clergy. Priests are being sentenced to death."
"They arrested the Bishop of Kielce, calling him a criminal. "
"We cannot allow our country's government to trample the altar. "
Security police. Open up. We're here to see Cardinal Wyszynski.
"I'm not asking you to get yourselves thrown into prison and killed. "
"But there can be no compromise."
"You must resist."
- Well? - They won't open up.
- Should we break it down? - He'll open.
[gentle knock]
- What's going on? - Men from the Ministry of Security.
- Let them in. - But, Your Eminence, they're going to...
Let them in.
You're under arrest. The government has decided you cannot carry out your duties.
You're going to leave Warsaw.
Sign this.
I don't see any legal grounds for such a decision. So I cannot sign this.
All the government has left is violence.
The blind children of Radwanice...
You led them during the Resistance.
They were the only ones who could make their way through the forest at night.
I was one of the patriots they saved.
I have great respect for everything you did against the Nazis.
But now you are fighting against the power of the people,
hiding criminal priests convicted by the courts for their crimes.
Your position is pro-Vatican, pro-imperialist and anti-Polish.
I am the same person I have always been.
Defending our nation's Christian soul,
its spirit of freedom, peace and justice.
Collect your things and follow us.
I'm ready.
Aren't you going to take anything with you?
I came poor to this house and poor I shall leave it.
[dog barking]
I'm so sorry. Don't worry, the dog is healthy.
- Sister Maksencja, get some iodine, please. - No.
Let's go.
- Karol, thank God you haven't left yet. - What's the matter?
Pawel and I are leaving. We are getting out of here.
Where are you going? How will you cross the border?
In the false bottom of a truck. We're going to France and then New York.
Pawel has a cousin in Brooklyn.
- When? - Tonight.
Do you realise what you're letting yourself in for? And in your condition?
Karol, we are starving here. We are living on charity.
We don't sleep at night, listening to every sound, afraid that they'll arrest Pawel.
Or worse yet, that they just make him disappear.
Everyone seems like an informer.
There are so many of them. They've completely isolated us.
I don't want my child born in this horror.
I won't have it.
I will miss you.
I will miss you both.
I will miss watching you act.
You remember our underground theatre?
And Wadowice. The school.
Friends.
How could I forget?
Your child deserves this smile... for the rest of his life.
Two living smiles among the dead. We are the only ones left.
- Jusek fell on a mine in Monte Cassino. - I know.
Jerzy is dead, too.
I couldn't find out where he died and how and if he was buried.
I don't want to leave Poland.
I'm Polish and my child...
You will always be Polish, wherever you go.
Sit down.
You will always be Polish, and so will your child.
Only the sky above you will change, nothing else.
I was supposed to put this into a drawer,
but I forgot.
Please take it.
I don't want it.
Who knows why they pay me every month?
The curia's even punctual about it.
I'll be getting a professor's pay out of university, so don't worry about me.
Change it to dollars. It won't be a lot, but still...
- I don't want it. - I know, you said that.
Listen, you can pay me back later.
You're like a sister to me.
[hum of conversation]
- Comrades. - Comrade Kordek.
He runs the Fifth Department, Church and Religion. The most thankless job in Poland.
Comrade Stalin used to say that introducing Communism into Poland
is like training a cow to wear a saddle.
He also said, "lf only we could have that Wyszynski on our side."
Wyszynski is a great man but he'll never be on our side. He's fine where he is.
You should shut down the University of Lublin.
We don't want other Wyszynskis springing up.
It's not a good idea. We have to give the impression abroad
that religious and philosophical pluralism exists in Poland.
There are new teachers now. Young, well qualified. Dangerous.
- Such as? - Such as a certain Wojty?a. A young priest.
This man should not be allowed to teach young people to have no fear.
We need fear to accomplish our goal.
It will be right in the eyes of history.
And even in God's eyes, if He exists.
The University of Lublin will remain open.
Adam.
Comrade?
Karol Wojty?a. He holds the chair of Ethics at the University of Lublin.
And he's a priest here in Krak車w taking care of young people.
I want to know everything about him.
Who he meets, what he says, what he thinks. Everything.
Even when he goes to the toilet.
Adam, did you apply to our department out of ideology or to further your career?
Why do you ask?
I find it strange that someone studying art history should hate religion so much.
The art I love celebrates man, not God.
God is superstition and obscurantism.
So you're pure at heart.
What about you?
I try to be.
[train whistle]
Ticket, please.
Please. Thank you.
I see some new faces. What's your name?
Janina Kuron. I'm from Lublin.
What's your name?
- Marcin Mickiewicz, from Kielce. - That's quite a name to live up to.
And you?
Maria Pomorska, from Poznan.
- And you? - Sorry. Actually, I signed up for art history.
No, you're welcome, too. What's your name?
- Adam. Adam Zielinski. - Join us if you like, Adam.
Art can be the master of morals and not the opposite.
Good. Why don't we start with a question?
Who wants to go first?
Yes?
- Why do... - No, sit down.
Why do some men act like wild beasts while others become heroes?
What makes some men betray their friends
and others sacrifice their lives for people they don't even know?
And who can answer that?
People are bad because they are scared and unhappy.
So they can be driven to violence and self-destruction.
There's an interesting subject.
Happiness and unhappiness deep down inside of each one of us.
Descartes. "Man is in the middle between God and nothingness."
"And he must choose."
We have to teach a philosophical concept based essentially on a human experience
rather than a cosmological one, more like what two and two are worth.
And the worker says, it isn't worth a lot.
That's the political drive. It sounds like a philosophical pastime.
- It's food for thought. - Let's have the food!
I'm sorry.
It's my fault. I'm always walking around with my head in the clouds.
Oh, it's you.
Art history?
Art history would like to buy something to drink. What do you say?
Why not?
I'm doing my doctorate's thesis on Piotr Michalowski.
- I have no idea who he is. - He's a very famous painter.
And I'm famously ignorant.
He painted several pictures of Don Quixote in a frenzy.
Mad, strong, desperate.
- Maria? - Yes?
- Am I boring you? - No, not at all.
There are many things we must discuss.
The young need positive answers, now, immediately.
Communists promise...
[Adam's voice] Communists promise young people a new, fair and better society.
Young people are pure. They want to believe that an ideal world is possible.
- We don 't promise them heaven and earth. - Am I boring you?
- What are you looking at? - Sorry.
- Where do you live? - In Krak車w with my aunt.
Fantastic. I live in Krak車w too. Is that destiny or what?
Who knows? Destiny's very mysterious. But it always finds its way.
We have to meet Marxism on its own terms. The freeing of mankind.
Seven of us will go into working-class neighbourhoods without churches.
We'll visit any family that needs us.
Good.
You've made an admirable decision.
But it might be dangerous. Make sure you are not followed.
- And Adam too? - No, not him. He seems a little reluctant.
Adam lives in his world of art.
- You like Adam, don't you? - I think so.
- And he likes you? - I don't know.
How could he not like you? He's an aesthete. He probably likes you to death.
I'd like to organise a trip to the mountains with the students.
- That's a great idea. - We'll go to the Tatras.
A premise for your thesis. The moral value of honesty and courage.
I like it.
Adam.
[Karol] If you're drunk and beat your wife, you can't blame others.
It's the loss of self-respect that causes you to harm a person so dear to you.
[man] There's no help, no hope for me, Father.
- If that were true, you wouldn't be here. - I tried many times to make amends.
Despite disappointments, you must find love within you.
It's the only strength that can change you.
The evil of our times consists in a sort of degradation of the human being,
sometimes planned by ideologies or by political or economical systems.
[man] There's been an avalanche two kilometres up the track. They're stopping here.
We have to oppose them by reconstructing the sacred value of man.
I am late.
- The train from Krak車w. - Oh, right. That's why Wojty?a isn't here yet.
They all went to get something to eat. Not me, though. I'm sweating the test.
I didn't go to classes. I work in Poznan but I'm trying to study.
What's this Wojty?a like? He's a priest too, right?
Yes.
- Is he mean? - Mean?
Worse.
He's a tyrant. A real tyrant.
Oh, my God.
- Are you well prepared? - More or less.
Could you explain Max Scheler's polemic against technological society to me?
He opposes the rationalists
who believe that we are able to dominate nature and man.
And?
For him, the only trust in the world comes from love.
[background music drowns dialogue]
- So you're from Poznan, too. - Right, yeah.
So, I found a classmate of ours who knows his stuff and he really helped me.
Who is he?
Where did he go?
Witold Brozek.
God help me.
Good luck.
Give me your grade book, Witold.
I'm sorry.
- I'm so sorry. I didn't know that... - Your grade book.
Witold is a student worker. I already tested him.
I gave you a good grade.
Keep on studying.
Thank you.
- Goodbye. - Goodbye.
Your wings.
- You're a poet. - No. Not at all.
I only know three verses of a poem by heart. It's Turkish.
A Turkish poem? In Turkish?
"We have yet to sail the most beautiful of seas,
we have yet to live the most beautiful of days,
and I have yet to tell you the most beautiful things I want to say to you."
Don't look at me like that. I get embarrassed.
Come on, we're late.
We're late.
[Karol] There is nothing more mysterious and unknown than love.
We have a deep, desperate need of absolute love.
The difference between how we perceive it and how badly we live it is a terrible thing.
Well...
Iove's not something that can be taught and yet it's absolutely vital to learn about it.
One thing's for sure.
Love and sexuality are the most exciting link between mind and nature.
But love is also a responsibility.
When a man and a woman are united by real love,
one takes over the other's destiny and future as if it were their own.
And that can mean a lot of strain and suffering, but that's the only serious way to love.
And not by making a game out of it.
[choir singing in Latin]
[blessing in Latin]
Go in peace.
[blessing in Latin]
- [man] I'm having trouble with this. - What do you mean?
I can believe in the Father and the Son. But the Holy Ghost? I have a problem with that.
- Nowak! - Karol.
Where have you been all these years?
I work in the Cegielski factory in Poznan now.
How are things going?
- Badly. I mean, just fine. - Which is it?
Both. Badly because this regime is an insult to socialism.
The people are starving.
And fine, because I still feel strong and ready to fight.
And you know what? I am in love.
You're in love? That's great news.
- Who is she? - Her name is Magda.
She has blue eyes. Beautiful. She's a widow.
Are you getting married?
She doesn't want to. She has a small child. We see each other secretly.
Give her time.
And take it easy on the beer, OK?
Poland is a slave state.
The Russians now run the army and the government.
They're bleeding us dry.
All their projects are failing.
They're turning us into paupers, Karol.
We're going to take to the streets of Poznan and let them know how angry we are.
- What good will it do? - You're on their side?
I'm just afraid of the consequences. I don't want to cry for martyrs any more.
Don't worry. They're not going to start shooting at us. We're the proletariat.
Good work.
But he doesn't give anything away. He probably figures we are listening in.
I don't think so.
I've provoked him a thousand times. We take the train together almost every time,
and he's never uttered one word against the socialist government of this country.
He's not interested in politics.
Perhaps, and I say this with all due respect, comrade, you're wrong.
I am not wrong, Zielinski. I want this man.
And you're going to give me the means to do it. Is that clear?
Are you telling me that I have to make things up?
What if I am?
What if I did?
Then I'll make some things up.
- Who's in charge of the UB in Poznan? - Comrade Maczek.
Tell him I want to talk to him.
You can go now.
- Radio Free Europe... - [crackle of static]
Today, June 28th at 4 pm, the Second Army Corps has entered Poznan.
The strike began early this morning at 6 am
as workers left the Cegielski factory marching towards the centre of the city.
As time passed, workers from other factories joined the dissenters
together with passers-by and residents of the city.
[chanting in Polish]
Are you Nowak?
Yes, I am. And who might you be, comrade? I don't think we have been introduced.
I'm Piotr. My mom said I could come here only if I stayed close to you.
Ah, so you are Piotr, Magda's son.
I'm glad she fell in love with you. It's no fun seeing your own mother so sad and lonely.
Your mother's a strong and beautiful woman.
She's lucky to have a son like you. Take this.
[radio] Groups of demonstrators headed for the Unified Workers' Party Headquarters.
Others went along Mlynska Street towards the Central Prison
and beyond to the Office of Public Security.
At 1 0. 1 5 am, a group of dissenters entered the regional courthouse
and the County Attorney's office.
[chanting]
[officer] The demonstration must disperse immediately!
- Leave, or we will use force! - You have to go home.
- I'm staying with you. - I told you to go!
[screaming and gunfire]
Go away! Free Poland!
Piotr!
[Nowak] No!
Piotr. Piotr.
Piotr.
[radio] The number of workers killed, it seems, has reached a hundred,
plus several hundred wounded.
My father works there! I'm sure he was with the strikers.
- What's your father's name? - lgnacy.
[students shout angrily]
Hello? It's Wojty?a.
Call Monsignor Gorka at St Peter and St Paul's in Poznan.
See what you can find out about lgnacy Pomorski.
And check on Maciej Nowak and Witold Brozek, too.
Yes. Thank you.
We'll know shortly.
- I know where we can find some guns! - Quiet!
Quiet! Sit down.
You know, during the Nazi period,
I happened to find myself next to the wisest man I had ever met.
We were in a dark room, hanging on between life and death.
And this wise man wasn't a philosopher. He was a tailor.
He said to me, "We will win with love, not with guns."
I asked, "How can you say that with the Nazis in our country?"
And he said, "The Nazis will disappear because evil devours itself."
"But if love doesn't win out, the Nazis will just come back under a different name."
And now you want to face down tanks with rifles?
You want to give your lives? You shouldn't be giving your lives today.
You should be showing your love of life instead,
a love they don't know about.
You have to bear witness to the sacred dignity of every life.
Demonstrate peacefully. Show your pain, show your disappointment.
Shout out your refusal of violence.
Show your love.
- Show your respect for life. - [phone]
- Excuse me. - I have to know.
Wojty?a speaking. Yes?
He's all right.
He's all right!
What did they tell you?
A classmate of yours...
..Witold Brozek, was killed.
It's hard to forgive a crime like this.
And a friend of mine was wounded.
But I repeat, do not provoke them.
That's exactly what they expect you to do.
They won't be afraid of your guns,
but they will be afraid of your words.
You look well.
Three years in prison haven't weakened you.
There were 1 7 of us in my seminary class.
Twelve of them ended up in a concentration camp.
Do you really think I would feel cramped in this lovely place?
I could live here until the day I die.
I have faith, a strength you know nothing about.
How would you like to go abroad?
I don't know...what about ltaly or the Riviera?
My place is in my cathedral or in prison.
You can go back to your cathedral. The government has changed.
Comrade Gomulka is in power now
and thinks that you can take up your duties again.
You fired on the workers. You used tanks against people in Hungary.
Is that what Communism is?
I think it's intolerable that they ended up firing on workers, even if they were agitators.
Even more intolerable is the failure of so many government plans.
Are you saying this to protect your career?
You can think of me as an enemy but not as a worm.
Whether you like it or not, we're alike. We are believers.
The fact remains that people demonstrating peacefully scare you.
You release the head of the Church to have an alibi.
You are making a very grave mistake.
Governments might change and ease up,
but I am and always will be against you.
Don't think that letting me out will influence my soul in any way.
Nobody wants to buy your soul.
We want to achieve Communism, carrying it out with all the changes needed.
With or without the backing of the Church.
How do I manage to be so late all the time?
[train whistle]
From the Secretary of the Vatican State
to the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.
His Holiness, upon the solicitation of the Archbishop, Monsignor Baziak,
names Karol Wojty?a Auxiliary Bishop of the city of Krak車w.
He was singled out for his keen intellect, devotion and constant dedication,
his interior strength and persuasive oratory,
his cultivation of philosophy and the social sciences,
his following as a teacher and his influence among the young.
Hey!
Excuse me, are you going to Olsztynek? I have to catch a train to Warsaw.
- [replies in Polish] - Thank you.
[bangs cab roof]
- Sacks of flour? - It was the quickest way I could find.
Were you in Mazuria to carry out your spiritual exercises?
No... I was with a group of my students. We were kayaking.
Yes...
I've heard you are perhaps a little bit too athletic.
I was curious to meet you.
- Do you know why I sent for you? - No...Your Eminence.
Your archbishop, Monsignor Baziak,
has obtained your appointment as Bishop of Krak車w from the Pope.
- I am far too young. - That's a weakness you will get rid of soon.
I ask you not to oppose the Holy Father's will.
I accept.
Well, then, let's go and get something to eat.
[choir sings Kyrie Eleison]
[ordination continues while choir sings]
[congregation applauds]
Karol! Don't let anyone get to you!
He wouldn't tell me his name. He seems very nervous.
- Maybe we ought to call the police. - No, we will not.
It's Nowak. No, you may go, Sister. Everything's fine. Just fine.
Nowak.
Did you really think I wouldn't recognise that voice of yours?
So my miner friend is a bishop.
- How is your arm? - It's all right.
They tried to kill old Nowak.
And when I got up, they tried to beat me to a pulp.
- What are you doing? - They are listening.
- [orchestral music] - I know they are. They are everywhere!
I couldn't find the microphones, but I'm sure they're here.
- I'm sure they're here. - No, times...
Times have changed. We don't live under terror any more.
Nothing has changed.
There are illusions of change, illusions of freedom.
That might be enough for the intellectuals, but not for me.
- Not for the peasants, not for the workers! - Come, come, sit down.
Disappointments,
persecutions, violence.
They are trying to hurt us.
They don't want us to smile any more.
But you can't let them rob you of your strength or dreams, or love.
Never. Remember that.
See?
I am talking to you about God without naming him.
I'd only just met the child... and they killed him right in front of my eyes.
- Who was it? - Piotr.
Magda's son.
He was only 1 2.
Now she doesn't love me any more because I wasn't able to save her child.
I became a priest to help people ease their pain.
But I suffer, I feel guilty for what I can't do.
Go to your Magda. Hold her tight.
Give her the kisses her son can't give her any more.
Excuse me. You told me you had an important appointment at four o'clock.
- What time is it? - Four o'clock.
Good Lord.
I'm late for an appointment at the Communist Party headquarters.
- But why take off your...? - So they see I am not there to provoke them.
But no Polish bishop has ever set foot in the Communist Party headquarters.
There's always a first time.
[church bell tolls]
How does this sound? We'll divide up the building.
Two floors for your seminary and two floors for us.
Half a seminary is better than no seminary at all, so I thank you.
Don't thank me. The Party says you are open to dialogue.
They don't see you as a fanatic, a reactionary.
That's exactly what I feared, Karol.
I don't like that optimistic smile of yours.
Still, all things considered, we both have the same goal in life.
The happiness of man.
Of course. Happiness.
You were an actor, weren't you? Your assurance, your serenity...
your confidence.
Are you acting?
There is not a lot to be happy about, and don't give me any faith talk.
I didn't mention faith. I was asking you to consider happiness.
Faith is superstitious madness.
"Madness that comes from God is so much more beautiful than wisdom of human origin."
That's Plato, as you well know.
The founder of reason and politics in the West.
We've said all there is to say.
You get half of your seminary back.
You have my word.
You may leave now.
- Is there something else? - Nowa Huta.
The 1 20,000 people living there are waiting for a church to be built.
Nowa Huta is a new city in the new Poland, created for the new man.
A man who doesn't need God. And you want to build a church there?
As Bishop, I have the right to carry this with me.
I'm not allowed to hand it around, but...
please don't have me arrested if I give it to you as a present.
That's the Gospel according to Matthew.
You might want to read the Sermon on the Mount, chapter five.
There's material for your intelligence... and for your sensitivity.
"Who amongst you will give a stone to the son who asks for bread?"
Good day.
You entered the devil's house
and you negotiated with him.
We do not negotiate with the Communist Party.
We do not set foot in their headquarters.
If you have anything to discuss with the political authorities,
you must do so with the consent of the man
who is until proven otherwise the Primate of Poland
and your immediate superior.
You're right, Eminence.
I should have asked you first. I...
I didn't mean any disrespect.
- I'm sorry. It won't happen again. - Good.
In any case, you managed to get us half a seminary. Is that right?
The man you dealt with would line us all up against the wall, given the occasion.
And you got us half a seminary.
Congratulations. How did you manage to do that?
Would you bless me, Father?
[Pawel] Karol, I know you are now in Rome.
I'm writing with the news that our family has been blessed with the arrival of little Jan.
Oo-hoo.
Mr Kowalski? If you have a second...
Sure.
But destiny was lying in wait ready to strike us
at the very moment we were most vulnerable.
Have a seat.
I knew there was something wrong.
Your wife was having breathing problems
and repeated attacks of coughing during and after delivery,
so I ran some tests, but I wasn't expecting this.
That shadow on the right lung...
unfortunately is a tumour that has developed metastases.
I'm sorry.
How long?
Three or four months.
We have faith, of course, but when God abandons you, it's difficult.
It's atrocious, Karol.
I write through tears because I'm alone. When she's present, I smile.
I've decided to tell her nothing
so she can have peace of mind for the time that's left.
I'll keep the anguish and pain within me.
The opening of the Council's first session
is crowned by the placement of the Holy Gospel.
As in 20 preceding Ecumenical Councils, it shall take the place of honour,
followed by the ensuing working sessions.
Man is a unique being.
He lives in a material world, but harbours deep spiritual urges.
He's a mystery to himself and to others.
Now the Church grows less and less efficient.
The Church can no longer show itself to the world
draped in the archaic Western culture.
We mustn 't be standing over the world, lecturing it and asking for obedience.
Now the Church has to walk with the world.
Men are looking for the truth.
We must find solutions to the difficult problems of life with them.
We must face the despair of human existence in these times of ours.
Wiith this in mind, the layman has to be in the centre of Church life.
I denounce every form of clerical mentality as an error.
Yes, in the new neighbourhood of Nowa Huta.
That's a working-class neighbourhood. You're a teacher. Why live there?
The government won't let them build a church.
You're right, that's a great reason.
You wretch.
In my free time between classes, I can go and visit families.
The farmers have been forced to become workers, to live in beehive apartments,
and their habits, their traditions have been totally ignored.
These families are falling apart.
There is drunkenness, women and children being battered...
There's so much bitterness.
You're too beautiful to have that sad look in your eyes.
Do you love me at least half as much as I love you?
- Adam? - Yes?
- Did you hear what I asked? - Of course I did.
And?
"The sweet love of a woman overcomes all."
I don't remember who wrote that, but Wojty?a says it too.
Here we are.
- Third floor, door on the right. - But where are you going?
I forgot. I have to see someone who can help me get a job at the university.
Put the kettle on, I'll be right back. Third floor, door on the right.
I've... I've listened to thousands of confessions
and I got a pretty depressing picture of human despair.
I have to tell you, Wojty?a's stamina is scary.
He helps people, encourages them, talks and talks...
but there's not one word you could use against him.
Please, let me do something more useful.
Negative. You're part of his group and you're going to keep on watching him.
[Kordek] Adam.
Did Wojty?a get to you? Or was it that Catholic girl's nice ass?
I know that the worker element in Nowa Huta is involved in subversive activities.
And I'm convinced that Wojty?a is with them.
So they better watch out if that project fails.
Hey, Darek!
You stand guard. We don't want them coming by for a control.
St Paul says, "l rejoice in infirmities, in insults,
in needs, in persecutions, in suffering,
for when I am weak, that is when I am strong."
They converted you?
Never. But it is a truth.
Like the man who told me these words claimed.
- St Paul? - Wojty?a.
- A bishop! - And a miner.
Long live our socialist homeland!
Kordek.
A well-timed heart attack eliminated the Archbishop of Krak車w.
The list of candidates signed by Wyszynski?
I turned them all down. Nothing but a bunch of fanatical anti-Marxists.
- Do you want a name? - We already have it.
A name that Wyszynski didn't put on the list. Wojty?a.
You are making a mistake. Wojty?a must be stopped.
I have been informed that the man obsesses you.
Where is the problem?
That man has an inner strength that no other priest in Poland has, including Wyszynski.
- He can draw the young and work against... - A man who talks about prayer and love?
Wojty?a isn't involved in any anti-government activities
and he lacks organisational and leadership skills.
And then tradition dictates that Krak車w's archbishop be a nobleman.
And we are backing a proletarian.
- Wojty?a is our real enemy. - Our enemy is Wyszynski.
He's the patriot, the union activist, the symbol for the masses.
We must support Wojty?a against Wyszynski.
You're making a tragic error.
The government authorises Wojty?a's name.
- That name wasn't on my list. - I know.
We agreed the government could approve but not impose.
This is what it has decided.
I don't agree with the government either, if that's any consolation.
The real issue here is...
just between you and me, let's say Wojty?a wasn't on your list
because either you didn't want him
or you wanted him, and all this was just a way of getting him nominated.
Where do I sign?
[Karol] Lord, You who challenges man
so that man can find the strength to challenge fate,
help me to be able to take action.
Help me to relive the Cross every day.
Help me to walk along a path that wasn 't mine.
Help me to deal with politicians.
Help me to help all those who need it.
Are you asleep?
What are you dreaming about?
I feel sorry for you. I really do.
You're fooling yourself if you think you're happy.
You're fooling yourself if you think that a God who doesn't exist cares about the world.
You're fooling yourself
if you think that I can love you.
You want to marry me?
You want children?
I will never do that...
..and I will never be more lonely.
- How did you get in? - You should keep your door closed.
I'm not afraid. Besides, you came in, not some thief.
- What's wrong? - Nothing.
You look unhappy. Nobody should be unhappy on Christmas Eve.
Unhappiness doesn't follow the calendar.
I promise you I can teach you how to be happy.
Marry me,
and I'll make you feel how wonderful it is to live and be in harmony with yourself.
Inner peace isn't just for the simple-minded.
You can find it, too, if you just let yourself be loved.
Tonight, the history of Nowa Huta is going to change.
Wojty?a is going to say the mass, at the foot of the great cross made by the workers.
- What are you talking about? - Oh, yes. Shh.
What's wrong, Adam? Don't you have anything to do on Christmas Eve?
I figured out what they've been cooking up at Nowa Huta.
But it might be too late.
[rhythmic beat of batons]
This assembly has not been authorised. You will clear the area immediately.
Clear the area!
What are you doing?
Stop this! Stop it!
You can't keep us from having a cross! We're Polish.
So are you!
Stop it! We came here to pray!
[shrill whistle]
- Fall back! - We came here to pray.
You, the workers of Nowa Huta, have put up this cross where you want to build a church.
Your city was supposed to be a city without God, but your will has prevailed.
Let this be a lesson!
[applause]
- Who is in charge here? - Captain Lukowski.
- Take me to him. - Follow me.
[Karol] But they can't turn their backs to the truth, nor speak of it, nor hide it.
Kordek, Fifth Department. I am ordering you to disperse this mob.
- Comrade Kliszko. - Give me that. Give me that!
Your cross is the symbol of the sacrifice that redeemed man,
that gives a new sense to life,
that teaches us to love and to respect life.
This man is defying us. He has to be stopped.
If these people aren't afraid of us any more, it's all over! Do you understand?
We are the citizens of our country, the citizens of our city, but we are also the people of God.
We will continue to demand our rights.
Religious freedom is the highest expression of human dignity. To stifle it is a crime.
[applause]
This rock was given to me in Rome by Paul Vl for you, the workers of Nowa Huta.
It comes from Saint Peter's Cathedral.
And on this rock we will build our church!
- Tell your men to take action. - I give the orders around here.
Well, then, give your orders. Right now! Silence that man.
I told you to silence Wojty?a!
Listen. I've had about enough of you. Shut up!
Come with us. Keep still.
You have to trust in the strength of hope.
You have to trust in love, which is stronger than death. You must never lose faith.
You must not lose heart, you must not get discouraged.
Never lose the freedom of mind with which Christ makes men free.
I am your bishop
and I will be with you every day until the end of my days. I bless you.
Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.
[crowd] Amen.
Adam.
[Pawel] You were right, Karol.
Hope, prayer and love, that hidden strength within us, can prevail over evil.
Do you remember the tumour? Here, look at this.
It disappeared.
Well, it happens sometimes.
Even for us doctors, our body is more a mystery than a certainty.
You're a lucky family.
Thank you.
[Pawel shouts with joy]
[Pawel] I'm frightened. Yes, frightened like he who has been blessed.
I can't call it a miracle. For me the word is both vague and misleading.
A mystery, said the doctor, be it for science or the faith.
I know you asked Padre Pio to intercede for us. Thank you for his prayers.
Thanks to the inscrutable destiny that gave Hania the strength to heal
and made me a privileged and happy man.
Pawel, what are you doing?
Pawel, what's wrong with you?
You're mine!
You're mine forever!
Will you tell me what's going on?
Nothing. I love you.
I've been spying on you.
Yes. I'm a spy.
I was trained for this.
I planted microphones.
I listened to your confessions.
I read your letters.
I was paid for doing this.
And I'm just one of many.
I always knew it was useless.
And even though I hated you,
your words slipped inside of me, like water through a crack.
You speak of love. Such a sick word.
Love for despicable human beings.
You are not despicable.
The pain inside you, and your anger, are your soul.
A soul that needs to be loved so much that it's smothered by it.
If you made mistakes, you already paid for them.
Thank you.
Thank you, Adam. Today is a great day.
This is the second time I've been a witness to the divine value of life.
Go in peace.
Everything that should be forgiven is forgiven.
You're a chosen one.
No.
Come here.
I forgive you. I forgive you.
I love you.
[Karol] Nobody should be forced to embrace faith against his will.
The cause of man's spiritual freedom, freedom of conscience, religious freedom,
is a great human cause.
For today's man and throughout history.
It's not enough for man to say, "l am free."
He has to learn to say, "l am responsible."
I'd like to talk about the Church's dialogue with atheism now.
We shouldn't start with the proofs of God's existence,
but with a reflection on man's deep and radical solitude.
Your Excellency!
You don't recognise me?
[gunshot]
Jerzy Kluger.
- You're alive! - So are you, Excellency.
What's that? Don't you remember my name?
Karol.
I thought you were dead. I looked everywhere for news about you.
I was told you were killed in Russia.
I should have died. Not once, but a thousand times.
And I've found you.
I was spared, but I was the only one.
I've forgotten what it means to cry.
We have to cry, Jerzy.
The pain has to be released, brought out in the open for everyone to see.
"Only the heart and a soul alone." It was our motto. Remember?
Jews and Christians have to come together like this.
I want you to look this over.
It is a letter to the German bishops in which we forgive Germany and we ask to be forgiven.
The government is going to be furious.
The time to make a strong gesture of peace with the Germans has come.
Do we really have to ask to be forgiven, too?
We always have to be forgiven.
This document is very important because it is the first step in our memory purification.
We should ask forgiveness for the faults committed by Christians throughout history.
That sounds like a destructive enterprise.
Millions of people have been murdered because of their race or their ideas.
We should ask forgiveness wherever Christians participated or kept silent.
[cheering]
[Karol] Adam, I am pleased your marriage gives you such joy.
But Maria's strength of heart comes from within and not from any teachings of mine.
A caress for your little son Stefan.
Adam, though you do not carry the faith, you do nurture a passion for truth
and that accounts for your gratification as a university professor.
I, unfortunately, see hard times ahead in this imperfect world.
How will the Vatican react if they ever find out about it?
I'm not defying Rome. On the contrary.
They know that the situation in Czechoslovakia is getting more desperate every day.
- Monsignor Wojty?a? - That's me.
- We crossed the border. - Welcome to Poland.
- Jiri Noga. Milan Hryc. - Here.
- Andrej Menzel. - Andrej Menzel.
My name is Jarko Sisyl.
Vaclav Kolar.
[Karol] This place will be your clandestine seminary.
A priest is one who conveys the mystery of the faith
with those invisible gifts destined to all humanity.
Here we'll work and I'll secretly ordain you, so you can return to your country as priests.
And there you'll have to face sacrifices and fight to defend freedom and peace.
I shall begin by giving my definition of a priest:
a man for others.
In '68, you shouted,
"No bread without freedom, no studying without freedom,"
because you wanted the right to bread, freedom and truth!
They arrested us, beat up intellectuals, closed down the theatres.
They made the workers think that we were traitors, and the workers didn't join us.
Now the workers are in open revolt - Gdansk, Szczecin, the northern cities.
The militia opened fire on them.
They are burying the dead in communal graves!
We know the truth, so we must be with the workers.
Remember that wherever the people cried out, "We want to be free,"
they have always found their freedom!
[screaming]
[chanting] Gestapo! Gestapo!
Yes, he's alive, but I'm scared.
Do you know what they do to prisoners? The so-called "paths of health".
I can't take it any more.
You're being tested. You're going to go through this with him.
You're going to overcome it with him.
Adam is courageous.
He's a chosen one. God will not abandon him.
Even as we speak, Adam is thinking about your smile.
The power of this thought will be his salvation.
Oh! [chuckles]
There you are!
- Did they give you your chocolate bar? - Yeah.
Yes. I was talking to your mummy about your daddy,
about the gift he's going to bring you when he comes back from his trip.
So this is what it's come to?
You having fun? Letting off steam?
Why don't you go and hit a mirror, Kordek?
Where is your God now? What is it that Wojty?a says to you, that God loves you?
History will always set things straight on the clock of time.
That's what he says.
Go on, Kordek, hit me.
Hit me as hard as you like, because He's stronger than you.
The state cannot cancel the rights that man has possessed since birth!
The state cannot replace a sense of justice with a billy club!
A state that sullies itself like that is destined to die.
Every attack on freedom by the state is a breach of the moral and social order.
To the families with men, women and young people who have died defending freedom,
to all those who suffer injustice in the name of freedom,
I say your suffering will not be in vain.
This Church is with you, on your side!
Woe betide the states that bring war inside and outside of their borders.
Woe betide the states that reduce peoples to starvation,
that kill and torture!
[congregation sings in Polish]
If Wojty?a becomes Primate, all the Poles will be behind him.
Make him die.
Are you out of your mind?
I might be crazy now, but I wasn't when I warned you about this.
Now it's too late. I'm sorry for you and for all of us. Our country.
Hm. That's very nice.
Mm-hm.
The Pope is dead.
- What did you say? - John Paul is dead.
Last night, after only 33 days.
I was very fond of him.
You know what he said when we elected him?
"May God forgive you for what you have just done!"
[choir sings hymn]
Siri.
Benelli.
Benelli... Benelli...
Siri.
Benelli.
Siri.
[reading of the vote continues]
Can't they ever agree? I have to get back to Krak車w for the synod.
- Be patient. Benelli will be elected next time. - I hope so.
Cardinal Siri, 53.
Cardinal Benelli, 57.
- Eminence? - Koenig?
Why not a Pole?
No. Impossible. I am much too old for that.
I wasn't talking about you, Eminence. Someone else. We want to propose Wojty?a.
That would be a wonderful idea.
But he's too young, unknown. He'll never get elected.
He's one of the most brilliant minds we have. He's a strong man. He's calm, clear.
Neither left-wing nor right-wing. And he's also an optimist.
But we are afraid he will refuse.
I'll convince him.
- The Lord came and He calls you. - What do you mean?
If they elect you, please, don't refuse.
Remember what Christ said to Peter in Quo Vadis?
Just one word. "Accept."
[reading of the votes] Wojty?a. Wojty?a.
Wojty?a.
[assembly applauds]
[Karol] Love explained each thing to me. Love solved everything for me.
That is why I admire love, wherever it is found.
If love is as great as it is simple,
if the simplest longing can be found in nostalgia,
then I can understand why God wants to be greeted by simple people,
by those whose hearts are pure and find no words to express their love.
God came this far
and He stopped a short step away from nothingness,
very close to our eyes.
Perhaps life is a wave of astonishment,
a wave higher than death.
Don 't be afraid, ever!
[priest on TV] Habemus Papa!
[priest continues in Latin]
.. Cardinal Wojty?a.
[crowd cheers]
[Latin address continues]
[crowd cheers]
[translation from ltalian] The most eminent cardinals
called a new Bishop of Rome.
They called him
from a faraway country.
[crowd cheers]
We have a Polish pope!
[translation of the Pope's address] Far away, but always very close,
for the communion of Christians in faith and tradition.
Magda! Magda!
He's my friend.
- [the Pope] I was scared... - Adam! Adam!
.. to be nominated Pope...
..but I did it in the spirit of obedience
towards Our Lord,
and total trust in His mother,
the Holy Madonna.
Naz drowie, Wojty?a.
[bell tolls]
[translation] Also, I don't know if I can express myself properly in your language,
our ltalian language.
If I make a mistake...
If I make a mistake, you will correct me.