It is right to say that the twilight of communism stemmed from the collapse of its political-ideological agenda, the social system and, in particular, its economic plans. But, it is also true that earlier – as Karol Wojtyła wrote in his encyclical Centesimus annus – it was the collapse of the spiritual order resulting from the Prometheus’ presumption that it is possible to build a new world, to create a new man, eliminating God from this world and deleting Him from the human conscience.
Confirmation of the changes came just a month after the fall of the Wall. For the first time, seventy years after the October Revolution, the leader of the Soviet state and the Communist Party came to the Vatican. He was accompanied – the irony of the history – not the Cossacks, who would have given water to their horses at fountains on the St. Peter’s Square. He was accompanied by the weight of ideological failure.
It was the end of a long, dramatic conflict between the world’s most powerful religious institution and the biggest attempt to impose the atheist “credo” that has ever occurred in history. More or less in such a setting there was a meeting between the Pope and Gorbachev, during which they shake hands. John Paul II said in Russian: “Hello Sir. I am very happy to meet you.” Gorbachev replied: “But, we have been in contact with each other many times…” (he was referring to the exchange of correspondence with the Pope).
John Paul II: “Yes, yes, but on paper. And, now we have to talk.” (without finding the right words in Russian, he continued in Italian and the translator translated).
Then they entered a private library and sat at their desk. One in front of the other. John Paul II said: “Mr. President, I have prepared this meeting through prayer…” Gorbachev’s response was quoted by John Paul II himself a few weeks later, speaking to journalists on the plane: “My interlocutor seemed very pleased with the Papal prayer. He said that prayer is undoubtedly a sign of order, of spirituals valus, and that we desperately need these values…” That’s why it was a historical meeting, one of the great signs of the change in history. Gorbachev not only emphasized the important role of the spiritual dimension of the human person, its impact on social life, but also became interested in Papal documents devoted to the social doctrine of the Church.
With the consent of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “Testimony”. TBA marketing communication Publishing House. Warsaw 2007
