In June 1979, Poland’s Communist authorities were preparing to welcome a man whose visit threatened their claim to speak for the Polish people. Unfortunately for them, he was also the pope, which complicated the usual arrangements for dealing with troublesome priests. They could restrict attendance and monitor his movements, but their greatest problem would become visible wherever the crowds gathered: people accustomed to being afraid were about to discover just how much company they had.
Karol Wojtyła had already helped workers fight for a church in a community designed to demonstrate the triumph of socialism. The workers’ paradise had encountered the awkward difficulty of actual workers wanting something the Party hadn’t approved, and their bishop had proved exceptionally unhelpful in persuading them to abandon the idea. Now he was coming home with the attention of the world behind him.
How did a priest acquire enough influence to help shake a political order backed by Soviet military power, and what did he understand about ordinary people that their rulers had missed? The answer reaches well beyond Poland, into freedoms millions would eventually exercise and a world you have inherited whether you admire John Paul II or have never understood his appeal. Even some of those who celebrated his challenge to Communism would find themselves uncomfortable with where his convictions led him next.
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