The story of the friendship between two of the most prominent men in the 20th century, President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, unfolds in Dr. Paul Kengor’s new book A Pope and a President. Dr. Kengor presented a moving and enticing summary at the Heritage Foundation giving the audience a glimpse of the untold story.
Dr. Kengor began his presentation with background on communist Poland. Karol Wojtyla, later known as Pope John Paul II, grew up under Nazi rule only to fall behind the Iron Curtain of communism post-WWII. Dr. Kengor highlighted the significance of the first Slavic Pope, the Poles were ecstatic while the shocked Soviet leaders in Moscow stayed fairly quiet.
A Pope and a President expounds on the Pope’s first visit to communist Poland in 1979, which Ronald Reagan watched from the U.S a year before he would become President. Dr. Kengor noted Reagan made the realization that the Pope was the key to collapsing the communist bloc when he watched the 2-3 million people at the mass in Poland. Dr. Kengor said, the Pope’s words quoting the New Testament on that first Sunday homily “Be not afraid” described the two men’s crusade against great evil.
One of the many parallels described in A Pope and a President is the assassination attempts on both men. President Reagan was shot March 30, 1981, while the Pope was shot May 13, 1981. The 20th century without these two men would have unfolded very differently. Dr. Kengor notes both should have bled to death but both men’s bullets missed their main arteries.
Instead, both men lived and met in June 7, 1982, where Reagan said to the Pope, “Look how the evil forces were put in our way and how Providence intervened.” According to Dr. Kengor, the two often talked about the “DP” (Divine Plan). Both believed that God spared their lives for the purpose of defeating communism.
During the presentation, Dr. Kengor made it apparent that both men saw a free Poland as the “dagger to the heart of the Soviet Empire.” Thus, they met one-on-one five times throughout Reagan’s presidency. Dr. Kengor noted there was so much communication between the two through letters, phone calls, telegrams, etc., that there were too many to count. When Poland held free elections in June 1989, the two men’s predication came true and the Iron Curtain crumbled.
Two men of great faith truly believed God was working through them to defeat the evil empire of the Soviet Union. Dr. Kengor concluded by stating Nancy Reagan said Ronald considered the Pope to be his best friend, thus he saw nobody better than the Pope to help him lift the Iron Curtain. They came together in the battlefield under the motto of “Be Not Afraid.”
A Pope and a President tells the magnificent story of how Divine Providence served as common ground for Pope John Paul II and President Reagan to form an alliance to free millions of people from the darkness of communism.
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