Mano4
DR. PAULOS MAR GREGORIOS
Room 440, Kurklinik Bad Laasphe
Postfach 1261, Am Bergelchen 10,
D 57324 BAD LAASPHE, Germany
Personal Phone 49- 02752 – 107 440, Fax 107 200
July 7, 1993
Sri K M Mathew, Chief Editor, Malayala Manorama,
Kottayam, 686001, India
FAX 0091- 481 – 562479
My dear Mathukutty,
Blessings and greetings to you from this rehabilitation centre in a resort town in the high hills of Wittgensteiner Forest in central Germany. I moved here on July 5th, and have settled down comfortably in a fourth floor corner room overlooking the rolling green hills and the charming town of Bad Laasphe, about one hour drive up the mountain from the university town of Marburg. They have all kinds of rehabilitation therapy here, including many kinds of massage, mudpacks herbal and mineral baths, physiotherapy of ten different kinds. I have already made some progress in the two days I have been here. I plan to be here till at least the end of July. The cost of my stay and treatment here is being met by the Evangelical Church in Germany, at the personal request of Dr. Konrad Reiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. As you know the Catholic Hospital in Wuppertal bore the enormous five weeks hospital cost with all doctors’ fees, medicines and tests included. The Protestants will pay my four weeks bill here. I am grateful to the Christian churches of Germany for all their goodness to me.
My health has been improving very fast, by the grace of God. I can do most of my personal chores myself now, without much difficulty. I get up from bed without help, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and take a shower, dry myself, and put on most of my clothes, all with one hand, without any help. That is tremendous progress over the last few days. The left knee is very weak , and I can only walk a few steps, and that too with great care and concentration. I can lift the left arm a few inches, but cannot pick up even a piece of paper with it. The half paralysis will still take several weeks to heal. There are no Malayalees or Syrian Christians anywhere near here, but the staff of the Rehabilitation clinic is taking excellent c are of all my needs. There are several doctors here who are specialists. I am looked after by the Chief Physician Dr. Donau , a friendly and competent German from Romania. He comes to see me three times a day. I have to deal with all the staff here in German, since most of them do not speak English. They are giving me VIP treat ment, and go out of their way to please me, and have already invited me to stay here beyond the four weeks if necessary, especially since they saw the following letter.
Three days ago I had this lovely letter from Dr . Richard von Weizsaecker, the President of the German Republic. He has been a good friend for more than thirty years. As you probably know, when he visited India last year, he invited me to lunch and I had a good long conversation with him in Madras. I give below the English translation of his personal letter to me (in German) dated July st, 1993, from Bonn:
“Your Eminence, my beloved and honoured friend,
It is with a great sense of sorrow that I have read that you have to spend a considerable amount of time in the St. Joseph Hospital in Wuppertal. This disturbs me unusually, and I hope very much that your health has been improving steadily in the meantime.
As for the expenses for your treatment, the office of the Federal President had taken up contact with various institutions. I am glad that a solution has now been found, which will relieve you of all anxiety on that count.
Personally, With my whole heart, I wish that you make fast progress in recovering your health, and that you will soon be well enough to undertake the journey back home.
In heartfelt sympathy, I am, with my best wishes and greetings,
Your Richard Weizsaecker”
He is a man for whom I have the greatest respect and affection despite our differences in political and economic views. Alas, he may not stay very long as Bundespresident. He is one of the few good people in high office in the world.
Could you kindly ask your office to give one copy of this to Bawa Thirumeni and one to the Seminary. I get somany good letters and phone calls every day, including one from P C Alexander and Accamma. Would you also give my new acdress and phone number to the Governor’s PA in Bombay. Does he have a fax? Otherwise P J Koshy can pass it on.
Thank you indeed for sending me Manorama. It takes about a week to reach Wuppertal, and they are forwarding mail to me here. I could understand the Harshad Mehta – One crore scandal better because of your excellent coverage. Did you know that Sat Pal Mittal is a man whom I knew very well and worked with in the organisation called “Global Forum for Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders” of which he was co-president? Of course I would not vouch for his integrity or that of his sons, who are all big money-makers, and who would not hesitate to use service organisations to advance their own personal interests.
Affectionately,
Paulos Mar Gregorios
Letter to K. M. Mathew (Malayala Manorama) PDF File
