« And Death Shall Have No Dominion | Main | Ebay Entrepreneurs Make Online Auction a Career »

Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul's Alliance

Newsmax carries a fascinating article summarizing the hidden alliance between the Pope and Ronald Reagan during the Cold War. The two freedom fighters made it clear to the Soviet Union that they would not tolerate an invasion of Poland. Few realize that the U.S. and the Soviet Union stood face-to-face, at the bring of war over the country:

In the end, however, the Russians backed down. Soviet domination of Poland and Eastern Europe ended, along with the Soviet Union itself, without a shot being fired, thanks to that alliance that was formed in June 1982 between two men who understood the evil nature of communism and knew how to bring it down.
It was a pact that once put the U.S. on the brink of a war with the Soviet Union.

It began on June 7, 1982 at a private Vatican meeting between President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. The two men were alone for 50 minutes and the subject of their discussion was Poland and the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.

Writing in "The Holy Alliance, Ronald Reagan and John Paul II," one of the Pope's biographers, Carl Bernstein, described what happened: "Reagan and the Pope agreed to undertake a clandestine campaign to hasten the dissolution of the communist empire … Richard Allen, Reagan's first National Security advisor [was quoted as declaring] ‘This was one of the great secret alliances of all time.' "

Judge William P. Clark, Reagan's national security adviser, said that the alliance between the two men emanated from a shared common view on the nature of the Evil Empire.

"The pope and the president shared the view that each had been given a spiritual mission – a special role in the divine plan of life," Clark told NewsMax. "The two men shared the belief that atheistic Communism lived a lie that, when fully understood, must ultimately fail."

Both also shared the remarkable experience of almost dying at the hand of an assassin – and miraculously surviving the ordeal.

Posted by tim at April 4, 2005 7:55 PM

Articles Related to History: