When John Paul II, the pope who was wildly popular in then-communist Eastern Europe, was planning a papal visit to his native Poland, the apparatchiks of the Soviet Union communist party were deeply disturbed.
The fine author and researcher David Remnick, at the time of the pope’s declared “pilgrimage” to Poland, which the communist party anticipated with dread, unearthed the following internal party memorandum, warning educators in Poland in advance of the pope’s visit:
“The pope is our enemy . . . Due to his uncommon skills and great sense of humor he is dangerous, because he charms everyone, especially journalists. Besides, he goes for cheap gestures in his relations with the crowd, for instance, (he) . . . shakes all hands, kisses children, etc. . . . Because of the activities of the Church in Poland our activities designed to aetheize the youth not only cannot diminish but must intensely develop. . . . In this respect all means are allowed and we cannot afford sentiments.”
Decades later, the Soviet communist movement is, to borrow a famous communist phrase, in the “dustbin of history.” Mainstream religious and other spiritual beliefs and activities are widely expanding in the former communist domain in the wake of communism’s demise.
When one considers our own general youth drug problems, crime, family disintegration, etc., one may consider the relationships between modern cultural background and the value-free, aetheized content provided in public schools and in mainstream popular culture.
Eastern Europe has awakened; will the U.S.A.?
Michael Harris
Loudon