The funny/positive side is that after the death of previous Krakow's cardinal, the communists quite supported Wojtyla's election, thinking him to be more mild and hoping he would be an opposite number of cardinal Wyszynski (Poland's metropolite), a staunch anti-communist. Now that's what I call a backfire :)
The negative side is that the Church in Poland did nothing for the last 15 years to clean up its records and check, who was the agent. All the findings were from outside. I dont think this "sweeping under the carpet" policy truly fits the institution, who is supposed to be leading moral force.
And nothing to be sorry for: the more is told about modes of operation of the communists, the better.
This is so very interesting. I really hate to say that I know much less than I ought to about recent Polish history and Wojtyla's involvement in Solidarity and the collapse of Communism. Strange, as I come from a Polish Catholic background. All that was ever said was that Pope John Paul II was the best pope ever, etc.
Of course, I realize that there was opposition and he was working under a Communist regime, but I never knew the intricacies of what had happened or extent of how entrenched Communism and its agents had become in the Church. I am continually amazed at his involvement
Well, I don't have the time to describe all the intricate absurdities of a Communist regime, but let me just say this: George Orwell knew Communists well, and, in his novel 1984, he made very little up. You have to imagine a world where everyone you meet might be a traitor, and maybe, to some extent, already is. How men such as Pope Woytila and Alexander Solghenitsin come from it is one of the mysteries of the human spirit.
One thing I would like to say, however, is that General Jaruzelski, the man who tried to shore up Communism in Poland in the eighties with a military coup (he said he did so to avoid a much more damaging Russian invasion such as Czedhoslovakia and Hungary had suffered before) was so awed by him that he claims he went in to their first meeting as Pope and President literally trembling. What a strange picture this is of the wolf trembling before the dove.
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Now that's what I call a backfire :)
The negative side is that the Church in Poland did nothing for the last 15 years to clean up its records and check, who was the agent. All the findings were from outside. I dont think this "sweeping under the carpet" policy truly fits the institution, who is supposed to be leading moral force.
And nothing to be sorry for: the more is told about modes of operation of the communists, the better.
Reply
This is so very interesting. I really hate to say that I know much less than I ought to about recent Polish history and Wojtyla's involvement in Solidarity and the collapse of Communism. Strange, as I come from a Polish Catholic background. All that was ever said was that Pope John Paul II was the best pope ever, etc.
Of course, I realize that there was opposition and he was working under a Communist regime, but I never knew the intricacies of what had happened or extent of how entrenched Communism and its agents had become in the Church. I am continually amazed at his involvement
Reply
One thing I would like to say, however, is that General Jaruzelski, the man who tried to shore up Communism in Poland in the eighties with a military coup (he said he did so to avoid a much more damaging Russian invasion such as Czedhoslovakia and Hungary had suffered before) was so awed by him that he claims he went in to their first meeting as Pope and President literally trembling. What a strange picture this is of the wolf trembling before the dove.
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