Russians accused of 1981 attempt on Pope John Paul II's life

[Lefty48197]

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060303/NATION/603030354/1020

I think the Russians were already near the top of the list of suspects after Pope John Paul II was shot in 1981. I credit the late Pope and Lech Walesa for having teamed up to bring down the "Iron Curtain" that divided Eastern and Western Europe. I think this report shows that the Russians considered the Pope to be a threat to their empire.

"An Italian parliamentary commission has concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 shooting of Pope John Paul II, the first time an official body has blamed the Kremlin for the failed assassination."

"The draft report, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, said the pope was considered a threat to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labor movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe. The Italian report said Soviet military intelligence -- and not the KGB -- was responsible."

"This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla, the document said. Wojtyla was John Paul's Polish name."

The Solidarity movement, and the subsequent fall of the iron curtain have had a greater influence on my political views than any other event(s) in American or World history. I truly believe that we were blessed to have lived alongside a Saint during the lifetime of our late Pope. I firmly believe that his life was spared by Divine Intervention on that fateful day in 1981. The Lord had a very big project in mind for Karol Wojtyla and a little piece of lead wasn't going to change that Plan.

It sickens me when I hear right wingers give credit to Ronald Reagan for the fall of the iron curtain. I listened to his spoon-fed rhetoric. He did nothing to liberate people. I also listened to every word spoken by John Paul II and by Lech Walesa. They inspired me. My emotions rose and fell with their fates in their struggle. I cheered and I cried as they overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their quest.

I shudder to think how the world would have been different had Pope John Paul II not survived that assassination attempt.

[hedgehog]

1. The assassination attempt did terrible damage to the Church.

John Paul never rally regained his strength afterwards and I think in many ways he became a puppet of Vatican insiders trying to turn the clock back. We would have a far better, healthier Church today if he had never been shot.

[Lefty48197]

2. The man helped bring down the Iron Curtain after having been shot.

I don't think he was weakened.

[hedgehog]

4. I'm not talking about the Iron Curtain

I think to a large degree it fell of its own weight. In any case, John Paul was elected to lead the Church, not bring down the Soviet Union. After he was shot, I think he fell more and more under the control of Vatican insiders who filtered the information he received about the Church and filtered information leaving Rome. I refer you to the recent article in the Atlantic documenting John Paul's last years as a figure head reaching out an ecumenical hand to other Christians while Vatican insiders stuck firmly to the concept that the Roman Catholic Church was the one true path to salvation. We have dioceses in this country that have been without bishops for years. If that isn't a sign of a weakened Church, I don't know what is.

[tjwmason]

3. As a piece of idle speculation.

Does anybody who enough about what the Conclave would have been like if John Paul hadn't survived?