“Catalyst for Revolution Pope John Paul II’s 1979 Pilgrimage to Poland and Its Effects on Solidarity and the Fall of Communism.” The Polish Review 57, no. Certain American journalists have fostered a myth about John Paul II's role in the fall of Communism. narrated by jim caviezel written and directed by david naglieri. While the late Pope John Paul II was beatified at the Vatican, the people in his native Poland took time to remember the strong-willed man who helped in the fall of European communism. I Strong-willed man aided in the downfall of communism. original music by joe kraemer director of photography george hosek, csc. “In his homily forty years ago, St. Pope John Paul II delivered a powerful message of hope…His words stood tall against the repressive forces of communism throughout Poland and the rest of Europe. Without a executive producer carl anderson “liberating a continent: john paul ii and the fall of communism”. Pope John Paul II played an enormous and pivotal role in ending Soviet-style communism in his native Poland, former Polish President Lech Walesa says. The next day, June 3, 1979, John Paul stood outside the cathedral in Gniezno, a small city with a population of 50,000 or so. Kraszewski, Gracjan. original music by joe kraemer director of photography george hosek, csc. John Paul II is widely respected around the world, but the Polish attitude towards him borders on obsession. To receive full copies of future issues once they are printed, subscribe for only $28 a year! To understand Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II's birth name) and his part in the collapse of Communism is to remember this man lived under oppression and tyranny for much of his life. This is because Karol Wojtyla is better known as Pope John Paul II. The year 1979 was the 900th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Stanislaus, and Pope John Paul II made it clear that he had every intention of returning to his native Poland (under Communist rule, at the time) to take part in the festivities honoring his predecessor as Archbishop of Krakow. narrated by jim caviezel written and directed by david naglieri. This article places Pope John II as the catalyst and one of the main factors that caused the fall of Communism in Poland. Pope John Paul II had always held a very rigid stance against communism. Wojtyla (he took the name “John Paul II” upon being elected pope in October 1979) was known to Poland as “the skier, the actor, the playwright, the poet, the man who had lived through World War II, the man who knew communism” (qtd. “The Polish Pope as a spiritual authority contributed to the collapse of communism,” says Paweł Skibiński, Ph.D., historian at the University of Warsaw and between 2010-2015 director of Warsaw’s Museum of John Paul II and Primate Wyszyński. edited by marc boudignon marc boudignon If it hadn't been for John Paul II’s first pilgrimage to Poland in June 1979, there would have been no Solidarity. “The new line pursued by John Paul II was fruit of his own personal experience, living under that regime,” Benedict states, in reference to his predecessor’s experience under Communism in his native Poland. 4 (2012): 27-46. This article about Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and communism’s collapse first appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of Providence’s print edition. Again there was an outdoor mass, and again he said an amazing thing. Despite a prediction by the regime that only dozens of Poles would show up for the Pope's visit, millions came to greet him, embarrassing the Communist regime. Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity movement that toppled communism in Poland in 1989-90, recalled the power of John Paul… "The Communist regime had to collapse and it would have happened without John Paul II," said Bronislaw Geremek, who is both a former Solidarity activist and foreign minister of Poland. St. John Paul II. edited by marc boudignon marc boudignon executive producer carl anderson “liberating a continent: john paul ii and the fall of communism”. He particularly addressed the late pope’s first Mass during this pilgrimage on June 2, 1979. As a young man he had lived through and witnessed the holocaust, the memories of which he could not do … “The Polish Pope as a spiritual authority contributed to the collapse of communism,” says Paweł Skibiński, Ph.D., historian at the University of Warsaw and between 2010-2015 director of Warsaw’s Museum of John Paul II and Primate Wyszyński. Having just returned from a visit to friends in Kraków, I wonder what would have happened in Poland had a former Archbishop of Kraków, later known as Pope John Paul II… “Obviously, nobody could expect the Communism (in Europe) to collapse so soon.