Pope John Paul II's Influence on the Fall of Communism Essay

“The Communist threat inside the country has been magnified and exalted far beyond its realities”(273). Accusations have been made, irresponsible citizens are spreading fears. Multiples of suspicions had been made. Innocents are being considered as disloyalty. “Suspicion grows until only the person who loudly proclaims the orthodox view, or who, once having been a Communist, has been converted, is trustworthy” (273). Suspects are those who are unorthodox, who does not followed military policymakers. The fear has driven citizens to the folds of the orthodox. The fear was to be investigated, to lose one’s job, etc. These fears have driven many people to sorrow. These fears have effected younger generations. “This pattern of orthodoxy that is shaping our thinking has dangerous implications” (274). Douglas believes the great danger if we become victims of the orthodox school. They can limit our ability to change or alter. Douglas believes a man’s mind must be free.

The contribution of Pope John XXIII has been profound, as many of his initiatives and actions are still resonating today. His acceptance of Jesus’ words “I came to save all nations.” Represented his motivation to do well and bring peace upon the world. He was an advocate of Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace. It is through his development of the Second Vatican Council, his contribution to ecumenism and his empathy for humanity that Pope John XXIII made a significant impact upon the development and expression of Christianity.

Karol Józef Wojtyła, famously known as Pope John Paul II, was the Bishop of Rome and the pope of the Roman Catholic Church from October 1978 until his death on April 2005. As a pope, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in more than four centuries and the first Polish pope of the Roman Catholic Church. His papacy lasted for 27 years, which is to this day the second longest in history (Blakemore, 2017). He was also one of the most polarizing figures during the late twentieth century. Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II was more than just a pope because he had a different style of papal leadership, diplomacy, and a high charisma unlike his previous predecessors such as Pope Pius XII and Pope Paul VI (Scott, summer of 2000). Pope John Paul II transformed his influence as a pope to a worldwide office and used it to preach more than a billion of people across the globe. According to Scheller, Schaffer, Kurlantzick, Kulman, and Stille (2005), the pope was “a trained actor and philosopher who understood the power of word and symbol and wielded both with precision, whether in meetings with heads of state or before teeming crowds of the faithful (first paragraph).” John Paul II also believed that the church can have a much bigger impact by having world communications from different countries and he delivered the gospel by travelling around different parts of the world. The late pope was also well-known for inventing the World Youth Day, which is bringing about real transformation

Pope John XXIII was know as the ‘peoples pope’ because of his warm and friendly nature that people could relate to. He contributed socially, liturgically and politically to Christianity especially in the Catholic church. Pope John XXIII was an advocate of Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace. Through his work with the Vatican II, Ecumenism, interfaith and his encyclicals as well as his initiative with world leaders he set a new task for Church and a new perception for the papacy. This in turn had a huge impact on the development and expression of Christianity worldwide

Historically religion has usually been a large part of civilizations, states, nations, and cultures. In Poland the case is no different; religion has been engraved in the culture and history of Polish people. Since the introduction of Catholicism In Poland has grown largely and more homogenously Catholic. It can be argued that this was manufactured at the end of the Second World War; through the holocaust and forced migrations by the Soviet Union. The significance of Poland’s strong ties to the Catholic Church is that the church plays a large role in the structure of polish society. The Catholic Church has served as a protector and promoter of polish culture during the times Poland vanished off the map, to the struggles for democracy. As Poland fought to rid them of Soviet influence and become a free democratic society with free elections that Catholic Church played a key role in helping the fall of communism in Poland. However from an alternative angle it can be said that art a music movements were also a key fundamental influence in the fall of communism in Poland. Although entirely opposite, both artistic expression and religion were two institutions of culture that both played significant roles in Poland’s rise to freedom. However it is clear from the work of many musicians, poets and

John Cornwell argues in his book Hitler’s Pope: the Secret History of Pius XII that the Pope helped legitimize the Nazi regime and that he did not speak out against or try to stop the Holocaust. Cornwell made the claim that Pius was anti-Semitic and did not care about European Jews; all he really desired was more centralized power for the Papacy.8

Pope John XXIII played a vital role in shaping Christianity as we know it today. He contributed socially, politically and liturgically and was a major influence in the establishment of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue between other churches and religions. He advocated Christian unity, social justice, human rights and the promotion of world peace, and his openness to all people led to him obtaining the name “Good Pope John”.

Communism is a system of social organisation which formerly consumed almost a third of countries in the entire world, having originated in Russia. The first official communist state was founded during the Russian revolutions in 1917, due to the inaugural communist political party ‘Bolsheviks’ gaining primal power. Afterwards, the influence of communism spread to other countries with the likes of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany to name a few. These countries that were governed on communist principles were known as the ‘Eastern Bloc’. Even countries in Asia were persuaded into the theoretically human equality system such as China, Laos and Vietnam. Communism was gathering strength to strength every year in the mid 20th century, but eventually its impact was wiped off in the late 20th century when the Berlin War was knocked down in 1989, ending the barrier between the Eastern and Western blocs. Communism arguably was the most influential social experiment in history, but also the most flawed and its failure to change the world permanently will always remain significant in history.

A major factor in the emergence of the workers’ opposition movement also was the support of the Catholic Church and the Pope specifically. In September of 1976, the bishops of the Catholic Church in Poland called for the government and party to “fully respect civil rights and conduct a real dialogue with society” while also demanding that they stop all repression of workers involved in the protests of June 1976. (Doc 5) The fierce and somewhat scolding tone in which the demands are made show the Catholic Church’s unwavering support for the Polish workers’ opposition. It is not surprising, however, that a group of Catholic bishops would demand better treatment for the Polish workers because, as members of the church, they would naturally be in favour of social justice. The value of having the Catholic Church support the movement manifests itself in the fact that the Polish communist party begins to require all teachers to tell students that the pope is “an enemy” and “dangerous” man who only wishes to charm the crowd. (Doc 7) This response to the pope’s support demonstrates that the party itself realised that the church could have tremendous impact on the turnout of the opposition. By the 1980s, a coalition of independent trade unions, known as Solidarity, was established in Gdansk. The photograph of Lech Walesa and other

Bainton’s Here I Stand is a chronologically arranged biography of Martin Luther’s life which seeks to show his philosophy and ideas for the reform of the Catholic Church without seeking to perform psychoanalysis of the Reformer.

If the United States had stopped the spread of Communism, history might have been changed in that China, Cuba, and North Korea might not be the Communist states they are today.

Communist rule was confined to the Soviet Union until the end of World War II.

1984 "The Catholic Church occupies a very significant position in the world and claims to be the way of salvation for hundreds of millions of people. Any organization that assumes that position should be willing to submit to scrutiny and criticism." {AWAK Aug 22 1984 28}

Richard Wurmbrand writes the gripping story of his life as a Christian in Rumanian under communist rule. He spent fourteen years living in communist prisons for his faith. Ransomed for ten thousand dollars, Wurmbrand escaped to the Western world with the intention of bringing to light the horrors of communism and to be a voice for the underground church.

Pope Pius explains that a government that bases it’s entire believe in atheistic ideas will have no concern with Catholic’s religious values and needs. For example, prayer and going to mass are extremely important to Christians, but with communism people would have to work on Sundays and holy days, and would not be given time to worship (DR, 4). Communism also disrupts the family values, without christ, marriage become meaningless, women can leave the house, and the children run wild and controlled not by parents but the government (DR, 3). The pope adamantly believes that the tactics the communist are using to gain members are despicable, their “propaganda so truly diabolical that the world has perhaps never witnessed its like before” (DR, 4). He even claims that they are using the to newspaper, movies, and schools to essentially be the mouth places of their rhetoric (DR, 9). Communism pretend that it care about the working class, it is taking advantage of the world wide economic crisis (DR, 4). The communist party attempts to give off a brotherhood and equality vibe, all while actively attacking people of the Catholic faith. Communist have been exiling bishops and priest, placing them in to forced labor, shot and done to death in inhuman fashion (DR, 5). Catholic laymen, of all classes, are especially in jeopardy, they are being berated, persecuted, put on trial and wrongly imprisoned (DR,