London, Feb 5 (IANS): A collection of late Pope John Paul II's personal notes written over four decades ago is going on sale in book form under controversial circumstances in Poland, as he had wished them to be burnt.

The late Pope had willed that all those personal notes were to be burnt after his death, BBC reported Wednesday. But his private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, his closest aide for almost 40 years, first in Poland and then at the Vatican, kept them.

He said he did not have the courage to destroy the Pope's notes as they offered a precious insight into his life and thinking.

The 640-page book, 'Very Much in God's Hands. Personal Notes 1962-2003', contains Karol Wojtyla's personal reflections on religious subjects from his time as Bishop of Krakow until two years before his death in 2005.

Stanislaw Dziwisz recently told reporters that "these notes are so important, they say so much about the spiritual side, about the person, about the great Pope, that it would have been a crime to destroy them".

After John Paul's death, Stanislaw Dziwisz was made Archbishop of Krakow in southern Poland.

He has said the proceeds from the book will be used to fund a memorial museum for the late Pope, who will be declared a saint at the Vatican in April.