Member-only story
Pope John Paul II: The Saint Who Helped Bring Down the Soviets
A look at the role he played
Whatever your religious or political persuasion, there is no denying that Pope St. John Paul II was one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. But was he, as many are taught and even more believe, the reason for the collapse of communism is Eastern Europe? The answer, much like the times, is not so simple.
As Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla certainly was not as directly involved in politics as his counterpart in Warsaw, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, had been, both during the Nazi occupation and the subsequent communist regime. He stressed love, bridge building, and humanism as the antidote to both fascism and communism rather than protests and running street battles. There were many activist priests in Poland both before and after he assumed the papacy, but he was never truly one of them.
Furthermore, while Wojtyla’s election in the fall of 1978 as the first non-Italian pope in 450 years sent shockwaves all the way to the Kremlin, there was no reason to believe those shockwaves would last or be anything more than symbolic. The Vatican Curia ran things, and appeasement was their policy.
John Paul II never directly called for the overthrow of communism, but rather for all governments to respect basic…
